


Are you an angel?

by Xiamara09



Series: Supernatural- Percy [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, Supernatural - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 05:21:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 26,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17217803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xiamara09/pseuds/Xiamara09
Summary: Percy Singer grew up with her father, Bobby Singer, and had known the Winchesters for years. An incident when she was 14 caused a riff between the families. 10 years later Percy comes across the boys on a hunt and ends up tagging along to help them find their dad. I mean what's the worst that can happen? Hijinks ensues and love happens (eventually).(I really am no good at summaries. Sorry guys)This story will be uploaded based on episodes I have fully written and then will be rearranged once I write the missing episodes. Just a heads-up as I try to catch up on my writing.





	1. Woman in White

There is nothing like the wonderful smell of motor oil. Percy smiled as she danced around her 1969 cherry red Corvette Stingray while Metallica blared from the radio on the stool by the garage door. Wiping a bit of sweat off my brow I grabbed another wrench and bend back over the exposed engine. My phone buzzing in my back pocket causes me to jerk my head up and smack it on the hood. Swearing I pulled out the offending device and answer with a snarl.

“Hey sweetheart. I found a hunt. Come inside when you’re ready and I’ll give you the details.” My dad, Bobby, said once the line connected. 

“I’ll be in in a minute.” I answer rubbing my head where I’d smacked it before closing my phone and tightening one last thing in the engine block before slamming the hood down on the car. Turning off the radio I run across the salvage yard and in the front door of the house. Winding my way through the house I stop in the kitchen to grab a water for myself and a beer for my dad before heading into the library. “Hey, what do you got?” I lean against the desk Bobby is sitting at placing a beer on the only part of the table not covered in papers and looking over his shoulder.

“Jericho, California.” My dad smiles up at me briefly then holds out a newspaper to me with an article circled on the front page. “A month ago, a guy vanished but the police found his car. In April there was another and same in December of ’04, ’03, ’98……” He trails off when I hold up my hand signaling that I understood what he was getting at.

“So, it’s definitely recurring and not a onetime deal.” I squint down at the paper and my dad shakes his head grabbing my reading glasses from the other side of the desk handing them to me without a word. “They all happened on the same highway?” I ask as I read over the article trying to piece together what I could.

“Yep.” He nods leaning back in his seat.

“Cool. I’ll go check it out.” I stand up again and start to head to my room as I hear my dad open his mouth I turn back to him with a smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you posted.” He chuckles at the fact that I had read his mind and waves me off towards my room. I kick my bedroom door closed with the heel of my boot while peeling my tank top off on the way to my washroom. After taking a quick shower I throw on a clean tank top and plaid button down, pair of dark jeans, and my combat boots before grabbing my ‘emergency hunt’ bag and favorite leather jacket. I hop down the stairs stopping briefly in the library to kiss my dad’s cheek goodbye on my way out the door to my car and then to Jericho.  
~*~  
I make good time to Jericho and manage to catch one of the officers from the station on his break and convince him to fill me in on the latest tragedy. After driving around town for a little while collecting local information I head to the library where I see two guys around my age fighting over a computer keyboard. Something about their bickering was amusing and familiar and I watched for a moment before slowly walking over and tapping the younger one on the shoulder.

“You know there is another computer right over there,” I point about 3 feet away at the vacant computer, “That you could use.” I smirk as he looks at me flabbergasted and the other guy turns to look at me. I glance at what they were searching and surmise that they are hunters too.

“Hello.” The second guy says as he takes me in leaning back in his chair to get a better look.

“Hi.” I respond bluntly before pointing at the computer screen. “You might want to try suicide. Murders aren’t the only violent deaths you know?” I lightly tap his hand out of my way and replace the word ‘murder’ with ‘suicide’. After a couple seconds, one result pops up and I grin over at the guy checking me out. I take a step back and then nod at both before heading over to the archive section to check out old newspapers for ‘Constance Welch’, the name that had popped up in the search result.

After a little bit of digging I locate the article about Constance, detailing the death of her two children that ultimately led her to jump off the bridge I had passed on the way into town. With a stretch of my arms I head toward the exit after waving goodbye to the cheerful librarian. As I was walking past the computer station a part of me noticed that the other hunters had already left. Could always just leave it to them Percy…. I think to myself with a chuckle. But where is the fun in that. 

I slide into my car and pull out onto the road heading toward the bridge where Mrs. Welch had met her fate. Stepping out of my car onto the bridge sent a shiver down my spine and I grab my jacket from the passenger seat sliding my arms into it while putting my car keys into my pocket. I look around and notice two figures at the other end of the bridge, one being held in what seemed like a threatening manner by the other. Slowly I creep up to them and silently laugh to myself when I recognize them as the hunters from earlier.

“You know some people would think you were following me.” I say loudly as I lean my hip against the railing a few feet away from them causing them to both spin around and drop into a fighting stance. I wave halfheartedly at them and the taller guy relaxes out of his stance while the other one eyes me curiously before opening his mouth.

“We were here first.” He growls out causing me to laugh.

“A mere technicality.” I shrug and stand up straight before holding out my hand towards them both. “I’m Percy.”

“Sam.” The taller one points to himself and then at the other guy. “And that’s my brother, Dean.” Neither make a move to shake my hand so I awkwardly wipe it on my jeans and shove my hands in my pocket.

“Sam and Dean?” I ask as the names click a memory to the surface. “As in Winchester?” Both of their jaws drop, and I smile pointing at them. “I’ll take that as a yes. I know who you are. Damn Sammy you’ve grown.” 

“I’m sorry, we seem to be at a disadvantage here.” Sam says as Dean scrutinizes me even more if that is even possible.

“Oh, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me. That would break my heart. We used to be so close.” I shake my head as Sam’s face scrunches up slightly while he tries to figure out who I am. “I take it you don’t recognize me either do you Dean?” I glance at Dean who shakes his head before opening his mouth to answer.

“I think I’d remember you.” Dean answers his eyes running down my body and I roll my eyes before looking over at Sam.

“Don’t hurt yourself Samshine.” I say as I watch the gears grind in his head. At the nickname Sam started as realization dawns over his face. “Ah there we go….” I grin like a schoolgirl and Sam steps forward squinting at me.

“Seph?” He asks slowly trying to figure out how the dorky little girl he used to hang out with had turned into the woman standing in front of him.

“Oh god. I haven’t gone by that name in a while. But hiya Sammy.” I chuckle and cautiously step forward for a hug which was enthusiastically given. In the middle of the hug I catch a glance of white over Sam’s shoulder and blink slowly pushing him back lightly. “Looks like this reunion is gonna have to wait.” At their confused faces I point over his shoulder and we all watch as the lady down the bridge jumped falling into the water below. We all raced to the railing looking down and saw no sign of her. “So, Constance?” I ask earning a nod from Sam and a scowl from Dean.

“Where’d she go?” Dean asks his eyes scanning the water loosely.

“I don’t know.” Sam answers as my car roars to life at the end of the bridge. I step back at the familiar sound and look quizzically as the headlights flash on and engulf us all in light. Dean pulls up beside me and looks at my car when another engine starts at the other end of the bridge and we turn around.

“Your car?” I point past him at the second car asking without taking my eyes off my car. Dean nods looking furious. “You don’t happen to have a third person to your crew that you hadn’t mentioned do you?” I prod receiving a head shake in response. “Yeah I didn’t think so.”

“So, who’s driving your car?” Sam asks both of us and Dean and I both pull our car keys out of our respective pockets.

The tires of both automobiles squeal as the engines roar even louder. I step forward and point at my car threateningly.

“No! I just put new tires on you.” I growl as the squealing comes to a halt and the headlights loom ever closer. Dean reaches forward and grabs my arm pulling me back and tossing me over the railing into the rushing river below. I hit the water with a crash that knocks the wind out of me and slam into a hidden rock my ribs screaming at the sudden force. I push my feet off from the riverbed to break the surface again and gasp for air before the current pushes me back down. I feel a hand wrap around my ankle and I lash out with my other foot connecting with solid tissue before pushing my way back to the surface. I break through the water in a much smoother section of the river a few feet away from a very pissed off and bleeding Dean. He swims over to me and leads me carefully to the river bank where we both lay down panting.

“Dean!” We look up as we hear Sam hollering for his brother. “Seph!”

“Don’t call me that.” I call out rolling over slowly in the mud to push myself up.

“Are you alright?” Sam calls down to both of us as I offer a hand to Dean to help him stand.

“I’m super.” Dean answers standing up and gingerly touching his nose which was still bleeding from where I’d kicked him.

“Sorry.” I whisper as he glares at the blood on his fingers. “Thought you were Constance.” I continue, and Dean holds his hand up stopping me. I take in the fact that he is also covered in mud before glancing down at myself with a groan. I straighten my jacket and wince as my ribs protest before stepping carefully over to the hill leading back up to the bridge. Dean followed behind pausing every now and then to keep me from sliding backward into him on the slick ground. We reach the top of the hill and I offer him my hand again pulling him up the last step before turning and looking at our two cars sitting a couple of feet from each other.

“I swear if she busted my car I’m gonna kill her.” I shuffle over to my car and pop the hood up looking inside for any issues. I hear metal creak behind me and realize Dean is doing the same to his car. After a few minutes in silence I let the hood drop back into place with a sigh.

“Car all right?” Sam asks Dean walking around to the hood of his car as Dean slams the hood back down.

“Yeah…. whatever she did to it, seems all right now.” Dean sighs and shakes some of the mud off him. “That Constance chick…. What a bitch!” Dean bellows at the air and I chuckle as I walk around his car admiring the beauty of the classic before resting against the hood.

“Well, she doesn’t want us digging around, that’s for sure.” Sam says looking down the bridge before turning and staring at the two of us. “So, where’s the trail go from here, genius?” Sam sits on the hood next to me and Dean sighs before throwing his hands up in a shrug.

“How about a somewhere with a shower?” I pipe up as Deans hands collide back onto his legs sending mud splattering over onto me. “We could both definitely use one.”

“You do smell like a toilet.” Sam scrunches his nose at us in disgust.

“Thanks Sammy. Just what every girl wants to hear.” I slide off the hood of the Impala with a sigh. “There’s a motel not too far from here. I’m going to head there and pray that they have showers that work. I’m sure I’ll see you both around before this is over.” I give a slight salute and shuffle back over to my car groaning as I slide into the driver’s seat with my ribs aching. Stupid freaking ghost. I jump when a knock comes from my window. Sam smiles as I slowly roll the window down and he passes me a piece of paper with a number scribbled on it.

“In case you want to chat.” He taps the hood of my car with a smile and hops into the Impala’s passenger side. I throw my car in reverse and pull back onto the road heading for the motel I’d seen earlier. Once I pull in I grab my duffel bag from the backseat and push my way into the front office. I had just set down my card for the room when the door behind me jingled and Dean and Sam wander in. Seeing me standing there Dean pulls out his wallet and throws his card down before sliding mine back into my hand.

“Now you really are following me.” I grumble earning a chuckle out of Sam. 

“One room, please.” Dean says to the attendant and I grumble at him some more while the man looks between me and Dean covered completely in mud.

“Mud wrestling only sounds fun.” I say to him with a smirk and he shakes his head picking up Dean’s credit card and looking at it briefly.

“You guys having a reunion or something?” The attendant asks, and I look over at Sam confused who shrugs in response.

“What do you mean?” Dean asks cautiously.

“That other guy, Burt Aframian. He came in and bought out a room for a whole month.” Deans brows quirk at that and I just watch him thoroughly confused before I turn to the attendant with a charming smile.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a room close to his, would you?” I lean on the counter while the attendant shuffles around behind the counter before handing me a key. I smile in thanks holding the key out to Dean who heads for the door quickly pausing to hold it open, so Sam and I can exit before him.

We walk silently over to the room and stare at the door. “Either of you wanna knock or….?” I gesture at the door while Dean takes up a guard pose behind me and Sam. “Oh for….” I pull my lockpick kit out of my bag hanging on Dean’s shoulder and kneel in front of the door. After a couple seconds the lock pops free and I open the door gesturing for Sam to enter.

“Whoa….” I hear Sam breath out as he enters his father’s room and looks around. I step in behind him and see the walls littered with news articles and pictures. I walk around Sam and follow the articles around the wall pausing when I see something of interest. Behind me I hear a slight scuffle as Sam yanks Dean into the room by his jacket and closes the door. I hear someone groan behind me, but I ignore it as I come across an article with writing across it.

“I don’t think he’s been here for a couple days at least.” Dean says tossing the foul-smelling burger he’s just sniffed back onto the table. I nod and run my fingers over the writing. ‘Woman in White’. Oh…. You are…. I scoff at myself and grab my bag from Dean’s hand startling him before tossing it to the floor and rooting around for my journal. Pulling it out I flip through a couple pages then laugh quietly. So stupid Percy. You should have seen it.

“……Trying to keep something from coming in.” I tune in again as Sam finishes his thought both him and Dean staring at me worriedly. 

“He figured it out.” I say and point at the wall by Dean with pictures of the Centennial Highway victims. “They were all men, different ages, different ethnicities…”

“No connection to one another.” Dean finishes for me.

“See I thought that too. But your dad figured it out.” I point at the article to my left and the brothers come over for a closer look. “That’s the same article you found right?” They both nod. “She’s a woman in white. I’ve never heard of one in this part of California…”

“You sly dogs.” Dean turns and looks at the wall of victims again. “Alright, so if we are dealing with a woman in white; dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it.”

“She might have another weakness.” Sam peers closer at the article on the wall.

“No, dad would want to make sure.” Dean walks over skirting around me where I’m reading a different article. “He’d dig her up. Does it say where she’s buried?” I shake my head in response pointing at the original article.

“John really dives all in to these hunts doesn’t he.” I point to the line where it talks about Constance’s husband. “If I were him though, I’d go talk to her husband.”

“If he’s still alive.” Sam says walking over to the bed and sitting down.

“Hmm.” Dean hums sounding impressed. “All right, why don’t you see if you can find an address?” Dean shoots over to Sam. “I’m gonna get cleaned up.”

“Yes sir.” I answer sarcastically shaking some dried mud off my jacket as I sit at the table.

“Hey Dean.” Sam walks over talking in a low voice, so I can’t hear him. “What I said earlier about Mom and Dad…. I’m sorry.”

Dean holds his hand up to stop Sam from continuing. “No chick-flick moments.”

“All right, Jerk.” Sam laughs and heads over to the table where I kick a chair out for him.

“Bitch.” I hear the response behind me before the bathroom door closes.

“You better not use all the hot water!” I holler after him earning a somewhat evil laugh right before the water turns on. Sam pulls out his cell phone as I pull out my laptop to locate Constance’s husband.

Twenty minutes later the bathroom door opens, and Dean stalks out. “Hey. I’m starving. I’m gonna grab a little something to eat….” I jump up and make a beeline for the bathroom dropping my leather jacket and a change of clothes on the sink. “At the diner down the street. You guys want anything?” I close the bathroom door and step into the shower turning the faucet on full hot.

“Son of a…!” I screech as ice cold water hits me. I hear a laugh from the main room and the door slam. With my teeth chattering I quickly clean as much as I can before hopping out and pulling the clothes on. The door slams open just as I finished pulling my shirt on. Sam closes the door behind him. “Hiya Sammy. Kind of occupied here.” I gesture at the room and he pushes past me.

“Cops outside.” He pushes open the window as I grab my jacket and hop up on top of the toilet and hoist myself out the window. 

“You boys really know how to show a girl a good time.” I slide my arms into my jacket as Sam lands on the ground next to me. We skirt around the corner and head towards the car. I smirk as I see Dean get slammed into the hood of a police car. “Serves you right for using all the hot water.” I slide into the driver seat of my car and wait for Sam to join me before heading off in the direction of Mr. Welch.

“I’ll talk to the husband.” Sam says as we pull up in the decrepit trailer park. I nod and hop out of the car passing him the keys.

“Not a scratch. You hear me Sammy?” Sam looks at me confused but agrees. “I mean it.” I point at him before wandering over to the street to find a car to boost. 

I pull up to the police station about ten minutes later and head up to the police station. I’m about to walk through the door when someone grabs me from behind and covers my mouth pulling me into a dark corner. I throw my head back connecting solidly with the attacker’s nose to hear a familiar voice swear at me. “Son of a bitch.” I turn and see Dean holding his nose to staunch the bleeding. “That’s twice.” He holds up two fingers glaring at me around his hand.

“Your own damn fault for sneaking up on a hunter.” I punch him lightly on the shoulder a look of apology on my face. He waves me off in a similar fashion to earlier. He looks over my shoulder taking in the cars.

“Where’s my car?” He asks scrunching his brows. 

“At the motel. Where you left it.” I shrug and gesture to the Ford I’d boosted. “Sammy has my girl and I would rather walk back to the motel for yours than drive that another mile.”

“I need to talk to Sam.” Dean says patting down his jacket as I hold up my cell phone for him. He dials quickly as we head in the direction of the motel. “Fake 911 phone call Sammy, I don’t know that’s pretty illegal.” Dean turns a corner when he sees a couple of officers driving by and I jog to catch up with him.” Listen we gotta talk.” Dean pauses for a second before speaking up, “Sammy, would you shut up for a second? That’s what I’m trying to tell you. He’s gone. Dad left Jericho.” Dean pulls out two journals from his jacket pocket before continuing. “I have his journals. But one of them doesn’t make sense.”

I grab at the smaller journal and look at it breathing a sigh of relief. “That’s because this one is mine.” I ignore the look Dean gives me and jog across the street to the motel parking lot sliding my journal into the inside pocket of my jacket. I pause when Dean starts yelling Sam’s name behind me. What? I mouth to him. He just points at the passenger door of his car before sliding into the driver’s seat. Dean throws my cell phone back to me and peels out of the parking lot. 

“Where did she live?” Dean growls trying to make his car go faster. 

“Who?” I ask turning to look at him.

“The bitch that has Sammy.” He responds squealing around a corner.

“Off the back road into town. Keep going straight.” I point down the road we were on, before beginning to look for a map. “Come on…...” I urge my fingers pushing different papers out of the way before finding what I was looking for. “Success!” I fist pump geekily and ignore Dean giving me side glances. “Turn left here.” The corner slams me into the side door causing me to gasp in pain before righting myself and leaning over the bench seat to root through the duffel sliding around the backseat. 

“As much as I would normally be enjoying this view,” Dean shoves my ass with his shoulder before taking another hard turn. 

“Shut up and drive Winchester.” I slide back into the passenger seat checking the gun I had just retrieved. “We’re here.” I say pointing at my car sitting in front of the house. I open the door and am beside my car before Dean fully stops. I see Sam writhing in the driver’s seat the ghost sitting on top of him. I level off the gun grimacing. “I’m so sorry my sweet girl.” Dean fires his gun at the same time I fire mine and the window shatters releasing Sam from the ghost's grasp. Sam sits up and fires up the engine before slamming on the gas pedal taking my car through the side of the house. 

“Sam!” Dean yells after him taking off at a sprint. I quickly catch up with him just as he wrenches the passenger door open and pulls Sam out.

“You okay?” I help Sam stand my head flicking around as a dresser screeches toward us slamming me into Dean and pinning all of us into my car. I brace myself against the roof of the car and try and push backward as the boy’s strain to push the desk off us. Dean stills me as the electricity starts to flicker and the sound of water comes trickling down the stairs. I turn my head watching as Constance slowly walks to the base of the stairs. Craning my neck, I see two shapes at the top of the stairs staring at her. I try and push myself around but just end up kneeing Dean and earning a grunt.

“You’ve come home to us, Mommy.” Two small voices echo through the room right before two figures reappear behind Constance. The little girl and boy surge forward wrapping the ghost in their arms causing her to shriek in pain and begin melting into the floor. We all look at each other as the force holding us in place dissipates and the boys shove the desk over causing me to stumble. Dean rights me and they both walk over to the spot Constance had just been in.

“So, this is where she drowned her kids.” Dean says pointing at the puddle left in their spot.

“That’s why she could never go home.” Sam responds nodding while rubbing his shoulder. “She was too scared to face them.”

“You found her weak spot. Nice work, Sammy.” Dean slaps Sam in the chest before coming to stand next to me where I’m leaning against my car. 

“I wish I could say the same for you two.” Sam says laughing sarcastically gesturing between the two of us. “What were you thinking shooting Casper in the face, you freaks?”

“Was trying to save your ass.” I turn and look at my car and groan seeing the damage done. “Look what you did to my girl. If this little stunt” I gesture at the wall before tapping the hood. “Screwed up my Sweetie in anyway, I’ll kill you.” 

“I like this girl.” Dean says jokingly pointing at me as I lift the hood to assess the damage.

“Okay let’s get out of here. Can’t fix her here.” I drop the hood and slide into the driver’s seat. “Come on sweetheart.” I turn the key and laugh as the engine roars to life. “Good girl.” Dean and Sam help me get my car back into the driveway and then Dean leans in through the open window. 

“Thanks for the assist. But we had it covered.” I stare him down incredulously.

“Assist? This was my case.” Dean laughs heartily shaking his head.

“Anyway, thanks.” He pats my arm and then heads off towards his car. I lay on the horn as I pull up beside him. 

“You boys ever need any help give me a call. I’ll be happy to come rescue you.” I wink at them both earning a chuckle from Sam while Dean stares me down opening and closing his mouth trying to find a perfect comeback. With one last small salute to them both I speed off towards the road and home.

The next morning, I pull into the salvage yard yawning from exhaustion and pull my car into her garage. “Percy is that you?” My dad calls from the doorway as I shut off the engine. 

“Yeah it’s me.” I step out of the car as he appears in the entrance taking in the damage to my car.

“Have any trouble?” He asks gesturing at the broken window and minor dents to one side.

“Oh, you know just the usual.” I shrug rubbing the back of my neck.

“Well you get inside and get some rest. I’ll get on the horn and order a new window for you.” He steps aside so I can walk up to the house.

“Thanks Daddy.” I lightly peck his cheek and head inside collapsing on my bed and into darkness. I wake up to my phone ringing in my pocket and scramble to answer it without looking at the caller ID. “Hello?” I answer groggily looking at the alarm clock by my bed.

“We need your help.” Dean says sternly.

“Tell me where.” I answer hoping up grabbing my jacket and keys and heading downstairs. I quickly scribble a note for my dad and am in my car by the time Dean catches me up on what happened to Sam’s girlfriend, Jess, and why they needed to find their dad. “I can be there in less than a day..” I sigh sliding into my driver seat. “Tell Sam I’m sorry.” I nod throwing my car into reverse. “I’ll see you soon.”


	3. Devil's Trap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We find out Percy's history with John and season one comes to a close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I know. Its not really in order. I get these flashes when I'm writing and tend to skip around a bit. I'm working on doing the whole season one. Bear with me. Tiny Dean's and Sam's for everyone who does!

"We need help." Dean growls slamming a hand on the steering wheel.

"Turn left." I lift my head from where I'd been slamming it into the seat while the boys argued. Dean shoots me a confused look. "If you want help finding your dad you will turn left..... now." Dean turns as I let out an agitated sigh. "The things I do for you two." The next couple hours are spent in silence except for when I gave Dean a new direction to turn. Sun was just rising when we pulled into Singer Auto Salvage. I step out of the back of the car and look at my home before turning to the boys. "Y'all are gonna want to arm up." I ignore the quirked eyebrows while I close my car door. "He doesn't like your family too much at the moment." 

The boys watch me in confusion as I walk up to the rottweiler lounging on the hood of a tow truck and pat him sweetly. They follow me up the steps to the door and Dean stops me from knocking on the door positioning me behind him as he pounds his hand on the doorframe. I roll my eyes at his protective bravado and watch in amusement as Bobby opens the door. His face flickers from 'what?' To 'murderous intent' in a matter of seconds before slugging Dean in the jaw much to everyone's surprise. I jump forward and stop him from continuing to pummel on Dean. When Bobby notices its me he relaxes slightly but glares at the boys on principle. 

"You really should have let me knock." I rest a hand on the side of Dean's face and take in the damage. "You'll live." I pat him lightly before turning back to my dad. "Hiya Daddy." I place a kiss on his cheek as I slip past him into the house.

"Hi Princess." Bobby responds still glaring at the boys who are watching in shock and minor fear of being attacked again.

"You aren't going to find your dad standing out there." I call to the boys from the library where I have tossed my bags. "Get in here!" Dean and Sam look at one another daring the other to make a move first and finally Dean steps forward flinching slightly as he slips past Bobby and into the house. Percy is rooting around in the fridge as the boys look around in the library. "Look's different doesn't it?" Percy's voice makes the boys jump as she stands in the doorway holding three beers.

"What do you mean?" Dean steps forward to grab a beer and Bobby plops a flask into his hand. Dean turns it over a couple times taking in the etchings on the flask. “What is this…. Holy water?”

“That one is.” Bobby nods at him then holds up the almost identical flask in his hand. “This is whiskey.” Bobby takes a swig from the whiskey before pointing at Dean with the flask. “Drink.” 

“Dad come on.” I step forward frowning at the interaction.

“You know the rules.” Bobby stops me and I sigh. “You come into this house you drink holy water.”

“I know I know.” I rest a hip on the desk before gesturing at Dean with the beer bottle in my hand. “Just drink, it’s not worth the argument.” Dean begrudgingly follows the suggestion and then passes the flask to Sam who takes a sip without a word. Bobby takes the flask back and then nods at me that it’s okay and slips the holy water into his back pocket.

“Doesn’t she have to drink too?” Dean asks, slightly childlike. 

“Let’s just say, I’m immune.” I shrug walking forward and passing a beer to the boys. 

“Immune?” Sam asks popping the lid off his bottle and taking a generous gulp. “Is that even possible?”

“Yeah.” I answer simply collapsing onto the window seat with my beer and a book. “Not important at the moment though.” I turn my head to look at my dad. “We need help finding John.” At the mention of his name my dad fists clench and he snarls. “He is in danger. No matter what he did in the past, we can’t just sit by and let him die.”

“Doesn’t mean I gotta like it.” Bobby downs more whiskey but settles in behind the desk and opening a book. 

“Bobby, this book.” Sam chuckles in amazement as he flips a few pages. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Key of Solomon?” Bobby asks and Sam nods in response. “It’s authentic all right. One of Percy’s I think.” 

“And these protective circles….. Do they really work?” Sam taps a finger on the page in front of him as Dean and I come to stand and look at the book.

“Hell yeah. You get a demon in one, they’re trapped.” Bobby answers and Dean looks at me for clarification.

“Kind of like a roach motel for demons.” I pantomime a person walking along my hand. “Demon walks in, demon stays in. Pretty handy sometimes.”

“I’ll tell you something else.” Bobby draws all of our attention from the book. “This is some serious crap you boys stepped in. That you dragged her into.” He tilts his head in my direction.

“How’s that?” Sam asks.

“Normal year, I hear, say, three?” Bobby looks over at me and I nod in agreement. “Three demonic possessions, maybe four tops.”

“Yeah and?” Dean questions from my side.

“This year, I heard of 27 so far. You get what I’m saying? More and more demons are walking among us…. A lot more.” MY dad continues, finishing off his whiskey flask.

“Do you know why?” Sam asks my dad as I shuffle around the desk and grab a new beer from the fridge for Bobby.

“No.” He answers accepting the bottle.

“It’s something big though.” I continue for him. 

“The storm’s coming, and you boys, your daddy; you are smack in the middle of it.” We all sit in silence until a dog starts barking outside. “Rumsfeld? What…?” I drop my beer on the table and pull the gun from the waistband of my jeans and head to his side as a whimper sounds and then silence.

“Something’s wrong.” I whisper, and the boys jump up as the door shatters open. Meg walks in as I aim my gun at her head.

“No more crap, okay?” She flicks her wrist and Dean, who had been making his way toward her, and myself are tossed into a pile of books and glass cabinet where we are stunned and black out briefly. Bobby pushes forward to get to me but Sam stops him and forces him behind him his eyes never leaving Meg. “I want the colt, Sam… The real Colt…. Right now.” She follows Sam and Bobby with her eyes as they slowly inch toward the main room of the library.

“We don’t have it on us. We buried it.” Bobby glances down at me before leading Sam back a little further.

“Didn’t I say ‘no more crap’?” She advances toward them. “I swear… After everything I hear about you Winchesters, I’ve got to tell you, I’m a little underwhelmed.” Dean comes to and sees me lying next to him and he quietly sits up placing a hand over my mouth and shaking me awake. I come awake with a jerk and he shushes me before helping me to my feet. The two men continue carefully stepping backwards as Meg continues ranting and stalking towards them. “First Johnny tries to pawn off a fake gun, and then he leaves the real gun with you three chuckleheads.” She waves her hand absently at where me and Dean had been without looking. “I mean, did you really think I wouldn’t find you?”

Dean and I appear in the doorway a flicker of relief appearing on both Sam and Bobby’s face. “Actually we were counting on it.” Dean replies gruffly and Meg turns to face us. I point at the ceiling above her with a wicked grin. She looks up to see a demon trap painted on the ceiling. “Gotcha.” Bobby and Sam step around the trap and come to our sides. 

“You okay?” Bobby asks looking at the drop of blood running down the side of my face. I nod and look at Dean.

“How did you know?” I ask gesturing at the markings on the ceiling in front of me.

“Saw it on the way in.” Dean replies with a shrug. I shake my head and pull a chair out from the dining room table and slide it across the floor to Meg.

“Might want to make yourself comfortable. You aren’t going anywhere.” I swipe away the drip of blood again and excuse myself to the washroom. I push my hair up and see a gash right at my hairline. I grab the first aid kit under the sink and quickly clean and bandage the wound. After tidying up I step back into the main room where I see the boys interrogating Meg.

“Where’s our father, bitch?” Dean questions her as I slip into place by Sam.

“Jeez. You kiss your mother with that mouth?” She gasps mockingly. “Oh, I forgot. You don’t.”

“You think this is a freaking game?! Where is he? What did you do to him?” Dean advances forward yelling. Sam and I watch itching to step in but stand our ground.

“He died screaming. I killed him myself.” Meg pretty much laughs in Dean’s face. I put my hand on Sam’s arm as he starts to get worked up. Don’t listen to her. I mouth when he looks at me. MY head snaps around as I hear a crack and yelp from Meg. Dean had just backhanded her and she rolls her head around to look back at him.

“That’s kind of a turn-on…. You hitting a girl.” She says breathlessly.

“You’re no girl.” Dean straightens up, fire burning in his eyes as he contemplates killing her.

“Dean.” I grab his arm and pull him back as my dad makes his way into the kitchen.

“You okay?” Sam asks as he moves aside to let his brother walk through.

“She’s lying. He’s not dead.” Dean answers his voice waivering.

“We already knew that.” I stop him from going after again with a hand on his shoulder and a calm voice. “She’s still a person. You have to be careful.”

“Why? What do you mean?” Dean growls his gaze flickering over to her.

“Because she really is a girl. That’s why.” Bobby answers under his breath. 

“What are you talking about?” Sam asks.

“She’s possessed. That’s a human possessed by a demon. Can’t you tell?” Bobby gestures at her with his head before looking at the boys worriedly.

“Are you trying to tell me there’s an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there?” Dean looks over at her trying to see it.

“Yes. And trust me when I say you don’t want to be the one that kills her trying to hurt the demon.” I look over at her but only see a memory floating there. I blink until it disappears, and Dean covers my hand on his arm.

“That’s actually good news. We will be careful.” Dean says to try and relieve the concerned look on my face. He nods at Sam who pulls out his dad’s journal and flips through it. I step over when he stops and look at the page. An exorcism? I mouth to him with my back to Meg. He nods then pats my shoulder as he walks to stand next to Meg.

“Are you gonna read me a story?” Meg plays up the innocence factor and it runs chills down my spine.

“Something like that. Hit it, Sam.” Dean smirks his eyes never leaving her confident grin.

“Regna terrae, cantata Deo, psallite cernunnos….” Sam begins the exorcism and I watch carefully my dad standing at my back.

“Percy you know how this ends.” My dad whispers to me as I watch intently, I turn my head towards him slightly and nod crossing my arms.

“I know.” I answer under my breath, memories bubbling to the surface. 

“An exorcism? Are you kidding me?” Meg watches Sam walk around her reciting from the book.

“We’re going for it, baby…. Head spinning, projectile vomiting, the whole nine yards.” Dean answers as I get a chill down my spine which I shake off. Meg moans in pain and I close my eyes tightly, remembering the pain. Bobby places a hand on my elbow and I shake my head mouthing to him, I’m fine. Sam pauses and slowly comes to my side.

“I’m gonna kill you.” Meg says over her shoulder before turning to look at me and take in my sickly pallor. “I’m gonna rip the bones from your body.”

“No, you’re gonna burn in hell, unless you tell us where our dad is.” Dean growls as she remains silent watching me and Sam. “Well, at least you’ll get a nice tan.”

“Keep going Sam.” I whisper as he notices my hands shaking. “Personal demons, I’m fine I promise.” He looks at my face and slowly continues with the exorcism.

“Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica.”

“Ahh.” Meg groans out glaring at the boys. “He begged for his life with tears in his eyes. He begged to see his sons one last time. That’s when I slit his throat.”

“Enough.” I say pushing past the boys and leaning over to speak lowly in her ear. “If you are gonna lie, at least make it convincing.” I push away from the her and continue the exorcism, Meg groaning and breathing heavily. “Ergo, omnis legio diabolica, adiuramus te, cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque aeternae perditionis venenum propinare. Vade, satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciae,” Sam follows my words in the book in his hands his eyes wide in amazement at my memory. Dean leans forward and threatens Meg as wind picks up in the room and I tune it all out focusing on the exorcism. “Hostis humanae salutis, humiliare sub potenti manu dei, contremisce et effuge,” Sam watches pages from books in the library flip wildly in the wind as I remain oblivious and Dean steps closer to me asking Meg where his father is. “Invocato a nobis sancto et terribili nominee, quem inferi tremunt, Ab insidiis disboli, libera nos, Domine.” MY eyes focus enough to see Meg shaking terribly and I falter in my words, the memories of myself in her position flashing in front of me rendering me immobile. Sam jumps in after a glance from Dean who watches me carefully.

“Ut ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos.” Sam pauses the exorcism as Meg begins yelling and her chair slides across the floor on its own free will. After a blink Sam looks back at the page in front of him and continues with another verse. “Ut inimicos sanctae ecclesiae humiliare digneris,” Dean grabs me from where I stand, stunned, when Meg and her chair slide in my direction. He places me behind him and watches in horror as she continues to scream. “Te rogamus audi….”

“He will be.” Meg yells and Dean tells Sam to stop. “He’s not dead, but he will be after what we do to him.”

“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” Dean yells over the wind in the room keeping a hand on my wrist in case something flies at me.

“You don’t.” She whispers and Dean glances at Sam who looks back down at the book to find his place. “A building. Okay?” She says obviously still in pain. “A building in Jefferson City.”

“Missouri?” Dean looks up at Bobby who is watching from the doorway his eyes barely leaving me. “Where! Where? An address.”

“I don’t know.”

“And the demon….. where is it?” Sam joins in the questioning.

“I don’t know. I swear.” She continues panting and not making eye contact. “That’s everything. That’s all I know.”

“Finish it.” Dean steps back his face contorted in anger.

“What? I told you the truth.” Fear is the main tone of Meg’s voice at this point.

“I don’t care.” Dean feels my hand start to shake and wraps it in his, the glare never leaving his face. 

“You son of a bitch! You promised!” She spat out straining against the ropes holding her to the chair.

“Well…. I lied.” Dean looks at Sam. “Read.” He demands.

“WE can still use her, find out where the demon is.” Sam shakes his head holding the page open.

“She doesn’t know.” Dean raises his voice and points at her with his free hand. “There’s an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there. We’ve got to help her.” 

“You’re gonna kill her.” MY dad steps into the room as I start to shake out of the memories that had held me frozen.

“What?!” Dean glares at Bobby, as I take in the scene in front of me my muscles screaming to sit.

“You said she fell from a building.” Bobby looks at Meg then at me then back at Meg. “That girl’s body is broken.”

“This doesn’t make any sense.” Dean says shaking his head.

“If she fell from a building then the demon inside her is the only thing keeping her alive.” I whisper causing Dean’s head to whip around to look at me. “She dies the second we finish the exorcism.”

“You knew that before, didn’t you?” Sam asks his tone factual not accusatory.

“Trust me Sam. Being dead…. It’s a blessing compared to what she’s going through right now.” I look at Meg sadly.

“She is a human being Percy.” My dad growls at me even though he knows why I am deadest on this.

“Not anymore she’s not. She deserves her chance at peace.” Dean looks between Bobby and I vowing to figure out what is going on after this is over.

“We are putting her out of her misery.” He states turning to his brother. “Sam, finish it.” Sam looks to Bobby, then me, then to Meg. “Finish it.”

“I can do it if you want Sam.” I place my shaking hand on his as he struggles internally with what to do. He looks at how worn out I am and shakes his head exhaling sharply.

“Dominicos sanctae ecclesiae. Terogamus audi nos. Terribilis deus de sanctuario suo deus israhel,” Meg starts to twitch around and her head flickers like a ghosts’. Dean watches me waiting for me to freeze up again, but I just keep my eyes on Meg watching sadly. “Ipse tribuite virtutem et fortitudinem plebe suae. Benedictus deus. Gloria patri.” Meg’s hands tighten around the arms of the chair moments before her head shoots back and black smoke erupts from her mouth. After a few seconds the body in front of us falls forward in silence. I pause momentarily before painfully kneeling in front of her. 

“Come on.” I breath out looking beyond hope for any sign of life. After a silent moment we all hear a wheeze and a groan. I watch as she tries to straighten up and blood drips from her mouth.

“She’s still alive.” Dean says breathlessly before smacking Bobby on the shoulder. “Call 911. Get some water and blankets.”

“Thank you.” Meg whispers looking me in the eye.

“Shhhh. Save your energy.” I reach out and undo the ropes on her left wrist as Sam does the same for her right. “You’re free now. We are gonna get you some help.” I motion for Dean to come forward. “Help me get her down. Gently.” Dean nods as him and Sam pick her up from the chair. Meg groans out in pain and I pull my button down off and place it below her head as a pillow. “Easy now.” I whisper as I take Sam’s place by her side. She gasps for air as I lightly touch her ribcage and feel it give a little. She yelps and I look at her apologetically removing my hand.

“A year.” She looks at me her words barely carrying due to her injuries. I had gone to medical school, I knew the likelihood of this ending well. Her body wasn’t broken, it was shattered, in a way I would never be able to fix. Even with the proper tools. 

“Shhh. Try not to speak.” I brush some hair out of her face and she moves her head minutely.

“It’s been a year.” She continues on. “I’ve been awake for some of it.” Her voice breaks into a gasp of pain and I lightly take her hand in mine. “I couldn’t move my own body.”

“It’s like living a nightmare, right?” I rub her hand soothingly and she nods. 

“Was it telling us the truth about our dad?” Dean asks leaning forward into her line of sight, so she doesn’t have to move.

“Dean.” Sam says urging him away from the conversation.

“We need to know.” Dean replies with a solemn shake of his head.

“Yes.” Tears fall from Meg’s eyes and I reach up and softly wipe them away. “But it wants,” She grimaces in pain and I squeeze the hand I’m holding until she relaxes again. “You to know…. That they want you to come for him.”

“If Dad’s still alive, none of that matters.” Dean moves out of Bobby’s way as he reenters the room. I glance up and take the glass of water that is held out before helping Meg lift her head to take a drink. She coughs after the first sip and I place the water back to my side as Dean slides a rolled-up towel under her head for added cushion.

“Meg. Do you know where the demon that we are looking for is?” I ask taking one of the smaller towels Bobby held out to me and dabbing at the blood coming from her nose and mouth.

“Not there. Other ones. Awful ones.” She closes her eyes as another wave of pain rushes in.

“Where are they keeping John?” I ask quietly.

“By the river…. sunrise.” Her voice is so low that Dean and I both have to lean forward to hear her.

“’Sunrise’? What does that mean?” Dean asks as Meg’s eye go cold. “What does that mean?” He urges her to respond but I reach over and place my hand on his arm.

“She’s gone Dean.” I let go of his arm and gently close her eyes. Dean and Sam both stand after a moment of silence and head with Bobby to the kitchen. “I’m sorry Meg.” I look at her blank face for a minute before standing myself, to find my knees weak. With a grimace I brace myself against the wall and wait for some strength to come. When it doesn’t, I feel my way along the wall until I make it to the dining room table where I collapse in the chair. Dean turns from where he is whispering with Sam and Bobby to look at me.

“What the hell happened in there?” Dean asks half concerned and three quarters angry.

“You are going to want to watch your tone boy.” Bobby warns him away before grabbing a bottle of whiskey and placing it in front of me.

“It’s fine dad.” I whisper staring at the brown liquid in front of me. “You two ever wonder why our families stopped talking? Why I hated your dad so much?”

“What does that have to do with this?” Dean wave at the main library room we had just spent all afternoon in.

“Everything.” I answer swirling the whiskey around and watching it slosh. Dean rips the bottle from my hand forcing my gaze up. I sigh and reach up to move my t-shirt aside, showing the scar that ran from the center of my throat and out along my left collarbone. 

“Percy. They don’t need to know.” My dad steps forward and I hold up a hand to stop him before continuing.

“I got this when I was about 14. Your dad had stopped by a few times with you boys through the years and become like family. Karen always welcomed all of you with open arms, she had a sense when family was needed. Probably the only reason John trusted Karen and dad to watch you two when he had a hunt in the area. One day he came and asked if me and Karen would mind coming with him, because Sam was sick, and he didn’t want to relocate him from the motel unless necessary.” Dean and Sam had sat down across from me and were listening intently. “Everything was fine the first couple days. Then day before we were going to come home I went out to the vending machine to get stuff for all of us and blacked out. I don’t remember much past that; whether its because I blocked it out or it was blocked for me I’m not sure. The next thing I remember is standing about……” I point to the other side of the kitchen, 2 feet from the doorway. “There…. With John standing in front of me with a knife and Karen standing in the doorway screaming at him and crying. I may be fast, but I don’t think speed would have helped at that point. By the time I realized I could move the knife was already here,” I point at the spot right below the center of my windpipe, “I pulled to the side and the knife dragged along. Then everything was gone again, except for the sound…. and the pain. Your father had started an exorcism, and the pain was unbearable, made even worse by not being able to see. When the exorcism was finished I collapsed, didn’t wake up for days. When I did……” I look at my dad and can feel the tears stinging my eyes. 

“Your dad saved Percy….” Bobby says quietly and I shook my head. “But the demon, it left Percy and jumped right into Karen. Attacked him immediately, he didn’t have a chance to start another exorcism. That’s when I came into the room. Saw Percy laying on the floor surrounded by blood and Karen going after John. I got in the way and along the lines ended up stabbing Karen. She attacked me instead, giving John the opportunity to exorcise her.” He wipes his face and swipes the bottle of whiskey from the table in front of Dean, swallowing about half before continuing. “She wasn’t as lucky as Percy. I’d stabbed her through the heart and done too much damage in the process. Had your dad never come here that day. I wouldn’t have lost my wife, and nearly lost my daughter.”

“I wasn’t possessed as long as Meg was.” My eyes fall on the body in the other room. “Doesn’t make the exorcism any less painful. Or the aftermath any better. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”

“Yet you continued the exorcism?” Sam asks, and I turn to him sadly.

“I wouldn’t wish possession on anyone. Like I said…. Death is a blessing compared to what she was going through. It was merc….” I stop and shake my head. “Actually, it wasn’t mercy. It was just better than the alternative.”

“We’re sorry Perc.” I smile wanly at Sam’s apology. “We didn’t know.” I wave it off tiredly and look at my dad.

“You should have told us before.” Dean states his voice tinged with anger.

“Wouldn’t have changed anything. Still doesn’t.” I push myself up weakly and Dean jumps up to keep me standing.

“You better hurry up and beat it.” Bobby glances at the clock behind me. “The paramedics will be here soon.”

“What are you going to say to them?” Dean holds me up by my elbow.

“You think you guys invented lying to the cops?” Bobby shrugs. “I’ll figure something out.” 

“Need me to stay?” I ask as Bobby grabs the Key of Solomon from behind him.

“Nah. They are gonna need your help. Take this. You might need it.” He passed the book to Sam who takes it with a nod of appreciation.

“You call me if you need anything.” I catch my dad’s eye and he nods.

“Go find John.” Dean starts to lead me to the door and is stopped by my dad. “When you do, bring him around, would you? I promise not to shoot at him this time.” I let out a tiny laugh before hugging him and letting the boys lead me out the door to the Impala.

The ride out of the salvage yard is quiet and the rest of the drive is no better. I doze off in the back seat. Dean wakes me when he stops off by the river to prepare the weapons. I join him at the trunk while Sam flips through the Key of Solomon.

“You’ve been quiet.” Sam says looking at Dean over the open trunk where he cocks his gun and places it in the bag.

“Just getting ready.” Dean answers simply.

“He’s gonna be fine, Dean.” I look up at Dean at Sam’s statement and he just keeps working. Sam waves me over to the side of the trunk and silently asks me to hold the book open for him. I drop my bag into the trunk and prop the book open looking down at the page. Sam wipes a space clean of dust and starts to copy the symbol on the page.

“Dude, what are you drawing on my car?” Dean stomps over and steps around me to look at what Sam is doing.

“It’s called a devil’s trap. Demon’s can’t get through it or inside it.” Sam explains.

“So?” Dean goes to stop him, and I smack his hand lightly away.

“It basically turns the trunk into a lockbox.” Sam gestures for me to go to the other side of the trunk and does the same thing on the other side.

“So?” Dean repeats rubbing at the drawing on his car with sneer.

“So, we have a place to hide the Colt while we go get dad.” Sam continues his explanation looking almost exasperated.

“What are you talking about? We’re bringing the Colt with us.” Dean says matter-of-factly.

“We can’t. We’ve only got three bullets left. We can’t just use them on any demon. We’ve got to use them on the demon.” I point to a mistake Sam had made and he quickly corrects it while talking to his brother.

“No, we have to save dad, Sam, okay?” Dean walks to stand behind me and I feel suddenly out of place but keep my mouth shut. “We’re gonna need all the help we can get.”

“Dean you know how pissed dad would be if we used all the bullets?” Sam asks with a huff. I close the book that he is no longer looking at and move away from the brothers to sit on the hood of the car. I can hear the boys arguing but I remain sitting there until Dean calls my name.

“Percy!” I turn and look at him questioningly. “What’s your opinion?”

“I….” I slide off the hood and look between the boys. “I actually agree with Sam. Your dad wouldn’t be okay with you walking in there with the one thing they want more than your heads on platters.”

“Fine.” Dean huffs and pulls the Colt from his pocket before setting it into the trunk. Sam grabs my bag and Dean’s out of the trunk before closing it.

“What are you thinking?” I ask Dean watching his face for some clue.

“Get dad back.” Dean answers grabbing the two bags from my hand and leading me off down the river.  
The three of us walk quietly until and exit to a street and Dean points ahead of us. “I think I know what Meg meant by ‘Sunrise’.” I follow his gesture and see ‘Sunrise Apartments’. “Son of a bitch. That’s pretty smart. If these demons can possess people, they can possess almost anybody inside.”

“Yeah and make anybody attack us.” Sam finishes for him.

 

“And so we can’t kill ‘em…. It’s a building full of human shields.” Dean mutters as we all watch the kids playing in front of the building.

“They probably know exactly what we look like, too, and they could look like anybody.” Sam shakes his head at the scene.

“Coulda been a doctor Percy.” I mutter under my breath. “So how the hell are we gonna get in?”

Dean thinks for a moment as an alarm goes off in the distance. “Pull the firm alarm get everyone out on the streets.”

“But then the city responds in seven minutes.” Sam tosses the wrench into Dean’s plan.

“Seven minutes exactly.” Dean nods.

“Then we got seven minutes to find your dad and get out. How exactly do the three of us plan on getting in and getting out without anyone recognizing us?”

“I don’t….” Dean glares at me for my reasoning.

“I’ll go in and pull the alarm. You two figure out the next step.” I jog across the street before the boys can try to stop me. When I get inside I see a fire alarm to my left but someone coming down the hall, so I head up to the second floor which is completely empty. Calmly I walk down the hall running my hand along it until I get to the fire alarm which I pull while continuing my stroll. “Okay boys. Time to roll.” I whisper pushing myself into an alcove while people go rushing by to get outside. I peek my head out after a few minutes and see the hallway clear. “Guess I’ll start without you.” I head down the hall testing door knobs to see if any are left unlocked. “John you better be here or I’m gonna be pissed.” I whisper jumping when I hear siren’s out in front of the building. “Of course, the one day it wouldn’t kill them to be a minute or two late……” I rush up the stairs at the end of the hall as I hear firemen breach the building. I walk to the end of the next floor hallway when I hear something behind me causing me to turn around. The hallway is empty, but I scrutinize it like I’m missing something. Next thing I know someone grabs my waist and I send a focused elbow backward towards my ‘attackers’ head. With a grunt its stopped and I hear muffled voices.

“Perc. It’s me. Calm the hell down.” Dean lifts the face shield on the firemen’s uniform he has on.

“Don’t sneak up on people like that.” I smack him hard in the chest but relax and step away. Both Sam and Dean are dressed in firemen’s uniforms and I gesture for them both to lead on. “If anyone sees us it’s easier to believe you are leading me to ‘safety’.” I use air quotes on the last word but the boys both nod and pull out their EMF detectors checking every door.

“I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up.” Dean chuckles as he checks another door.

“You never told me that.” Sam responds sounding impressed.

“It actually makes sense.” Both the boys look in my direction. “Easier to pick up girls.” I answer their looks with a shrug. “What girl hasn’t dreamed of bagging a fireman. They’re hot.” I smirk at Dean particularly with a twinkle in my eye. The smirk fades as his EMF redlines at the door. “Daddy’s home…...” I mutter stepping back to make room for the boys to enter. Sam knocks politely as I remove myself from the view of the peephole.

“This is the fire department. We need you to evacuate.” Dean yells through the mask he has on. We listen as locks start to click open, the second the door starts to move Dean slams into it forcing the demons out of the way. Once they both have breached the both start spraying the demons who start steaming. I stay out of the way as the boys scuffle the demons into a closet where Dean holds the door closed. “Salt!” Dean yells at me pointing at the bag on the floor. I slide across the floor and find the salt canister easily forming a half circle around the doorframe. The banging on the closet door stops instantly and Dean breathes a sigh of relief before stepping carefully over the circle and takes off the gear he has on.

“See?” I gesture at him with a grin. “Hot.” Dean shakes his head with a matching grin and I wander off towards the other room behind us carefully. Slowly I push the door as Dean whispers at me to wait. Looking in the room I see John tied to the bed and bleeding. “Shit…. John.” I rush to his side Dean and Sam right behind me. I check quickly for a pulse and breathing before tapping John’s face. “John, wake up.” Dean joins in trying to wake him by shaking him. “Dean untie him.” I gesture at the ropes at his hand and Dean nods pulling out his pocket knife.

“Wait.” Sam calls our attention to him and we both freeze. “He could be possessed for all we know.”

“This is John we are talking about.” I shake my head at Sam as Dean simultaneously responds with “What are you nuts?”

“We gotta be sure.” Sam says pulling out a flask from the bag he is now carrying.

“Fine fine. Give it here.” I wave my hand at Sam impatiently and he puts the flask into my palm. Quickly I twist the cap off and dump the whole flask on his face. John starts to move his head slightly and takes in Sam standing at the foot of the bed.

“Sam?” He groans out before seeing me sitting on the bed to his right. “Why am I wet?”

“You really needed a bath…” I answer innocently as Dean kneels onto the bed opposite me.

“Dad, are you okay?” He asks leaning into his line of sight.

“Be better if I had woken up to a gorgeous woman standing over me.” John answers weakly.

“I would take great offense to that, but it looks like they’ve drugged you up, and your eyesight is obviously playing tricks on you.” I shift his face around to look at it with a smile.

John’s lips quirk into a brief smile. “Where’s the Colt?”

“Don’t worry dad its safe.” Sam answers as Dean cuts the rope holding John’s wrist and passes the knife to me to do the same.

“Good, boys. Good, boys.” John mutters nodding looking at me.

“Uh, not a boy.” I shake my head as the rope falls free from his wrist. “Alright up you get John.” I gesture for Dean to take a side and we carefully sit John up leaning him on me while Dean makes quick work of the ties on his ankles. With John supported between me and Dean we quickly waddle into the living room again just in time for a demonic mail man and fireman to come busting through.

“Back back back.” Sam says grabbing mine and John’s shirt pulling us back into the bedroom. Dean pulls John off my shoulder and braces him against the wall as Sam slams the door. I rest against the door beside him for a moment before an ax splinters through right by my head. I stare at it wide-eyed and Dean pulls me away while Sam digs for the salt forming a line at the doorway. 

“Fire escape.” I yell over the banging on the door and hop out the window before helping Dean get John out the window. Dean jumps the window sill and starts pushing me and his father towards the stairs. “Sam!” I yell at him and he nods before pushing us to the stairs again.

“I’ll get him. Get my dad out of here.” Dean yells before turning back to the open window. John and I slowly make our way down the stairs and Dean catches up with us before the final ladder heading down first to help his dad. When our feet touch pavement, the four of us make our way toward the Impala, Sam in the lead and Dean and I supporting John. Dean drops John on my shoulder when Sam gets tackled and pummeled by a demon. I watch as Dean gets thrown into a car down the road by an invisible force. The demon returns his focus to slugging Sam. 

“Sam!” I yell and the demon’s head whips towards me. “Oh shit.” I whimper and readjust my hold on John as the demon menacingly stalks toward us. “Shit shit shit.” I mutter continuously not being able to reach my gun in my waistband without dropping John. When the demon is a few feet away a gunshot wrings out and the demon collapses, his body coursing with what looked like electricity and black smoke erupting from ears and nose. I rip my eyes from the demon to see Dean wielding the Colt. “You have got to be kidding me.” I groan and lead John over as Dean rushes to Sam’s side pulling him to his feet.

“Come on.” Dean pushes Sam lightly towards me and John. “Come on, we’ve got to get out of here.” Dean supports Sam on one side and helps me support John on his other as we half run back to the Impala. Once in the Impala I slide into the back seat and lay John’s head in my lap as the boys hop into the front seat. We ride in silence until Dean pulls into a hideaway cabin and helps me shuffle John inside to the run-down bed.

“I got him.” I state as I sit on the bed not making eye contact. 

“Percy.” Dean starts to say, and I wave him off.

“Go help Sam. I’ll get John settled and cleaned up.” I push him out the door and close it behind me. “I really don’t understand you boys sometimes.” I mutter under my breath then move about working on John.

I finish up with John and sit on the floor leaning against the bed with a sigh. I understood why Dean had taken the gun with him, part of me was grateful for it. The other part of me felt horrible for being lied to. We’re hunters though…. We lie. I chuckle at my cynicism. I hang my head between my knees and sit in silence for a while. My head jerks up when John groans as he tries to sit up. I stand up and look at him with a smirk. “You look like hell.” John just glares at me as I help him stand up.

“Where are they?” He asks gruffly, and I point at the door to the main room of the cabin. He nods at me in thanks and walks out stiffly wiping his hands on his pants. I missed what the boys had been talking about but walk out into the doorway right as John says, “You did good.”

“You’re not mad?” Dean asks fear sparking in his eyes as he looks at his dad.

“I think she’s mad enough for the both of us.” John answers jerking his thumb over his shoulder at me. “Not that I can tell why.”

“Using a bullet.” Dean answers for me.

“I’m proud of you.” John says looking at his boys. “You know, Sam and I, we can get pretty obsessed.” I take in the men in front of me and head towards the back door by Dean, resting a hand on his shoulder briefly before heading out the door to give them their ‘family moment’. I look at the night sky taking in the constellations I knew by heart. I follow Ursa major and blink a few times when one of the stars is missing, quickly followed by more as a black cloud flies our way. The cabin starts to rumble at the oncoming storm. 

“Percy!” Dean calls from inside and I back my way into the cabin where he jerks me inside and lays salt at the doorway. Once he’s satisfied at the seal he takes my arm and leads me quietly to the front of the cabin where John and Sam are.

“It found us. It’s here.” John turns back from the window he’s looking out.

“The demon?” Sam pants and John nods at him.

“Sam, lines of salt in front of every window, every door.” John orders and Sam responds with ‘Already done’. “Well, check it, okay?”

“I’ll help.” I say to Sam and start to head off towards the far end of the house with him as John turns to his oldest. I pause at the urgency in John’s voice and glance over my shoulder to see Dean taking a step back. “Dean?” I step back toward him and he holds up a hand to stop me and turns back to his father.

“You’d be furious.” Dean steps around until he is in between me and his dad. “That I wasted a bullet. He wouldn’t be proud of me. He’d tear me a new one.”

“Dean what are you talking about?” I glance over at where Sam is checking salt lines before stepping forward and placing my hand on Dean’s back. Dean raises the Colt and points it at John.

“You’re not my dad.” He growls out keeping me behind him with a hand.

“Are you insane?” I ask going to reach for the Colt. “We tested him. That is John.” Dean shakes his head at me.

“I know my dad better than anyone, and that ain’t him.”

“What the hell has gotten into you? Listen to Percy. She trusts that it’s me.” I jerk my head up at John’s statement. Trust? I wouldn’t trust you with a pet rock. John knows that.

“Okay, you are right Dean. That’s not John.” I whisper letting my arms fall back to my side and Sam rushes into the room.

“Dean? What the hell is going on?” Sam looks at the scene unfolding and steps forward, but I look at him with a shake of my head and he pauses.

“Your brother’s lost his mind.”

“He’s not dad. I think he’s possessed. I think he’s been possessed since we rescued him.” Dean explains as I peek over his arm.

“Don’t listen to him, Sammy.” John looks at his youngest.

“Dean, how do you know?” Sam asks stepping to move behind myself and Dean.

“He’s different.” 

“You know we don’t have time for this. Sam, if you want to kill this demon, you’ve got to trust me.” Sam looks between his brother and his dad for a few minutes before saying no and standing fully behind me protectively.

“Fine.” John scoffs. “You’re all so sure. Go ahead. Kill me.” Tears start to well up in his eyes and I watch in shock as he hangs his head. Dean starts to lower his hand as he second guesses himself. “I thought so.” John lifts his head up and his eyes are yellow. The three of us are hurtled through the air and pinned to separate walls. I gasp as the air is knocked out of me and pain erupts over my body, feeling like my insides are being ripped apart. I skirt my eyes over and see that Dean has dropped the gun and is writhing against the wall, as is Sam. ‘John’ kneels and picks up the gun waving it at us. “What a pain in the ass this thing’s been.” The pain subsides as my insides return to normal but I’m still unable to move as a force holds me and the boys in place.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” Sam asks as Dean strains against the force holding him. “We’ve been looking for you for a long time.”

“Well,” The demon holds out his hands, “You found me.”

“Why didn’t the holy water work?” I spit out drawing the demon’s attention to me. He smirks at me and moves to stand in front of me.

“I’m above that.” He scoffs before running the Colt along my jawline. “You aren’t as smart as you think.” The boys both strain forward as I stare down fearlessly.

“You better pull that trigger. Because I will come after you if you don’t.” I snarl and the demon laughs at my audacity.

“Not quite yet.” He waggles the gun in front of my face before stepping back.

“I’m gonna kill you!” Sam shouts across the room making the demon laugh.

“That would be a neat trick.” He places the gun on a table close by. “In fact, here. Go ahead and make the gun float to you there, psychic boy.” Dean and I exchange glances as Sam stares at the gun and the demon chuckles. “Well, this is fun. I could’ve killed you a hundred times today, but this…” A pause for an exaggerated sigh. ” This is worth the wait. Your dad…. You know he’s in here with me, trapped inside his own meat suit. He says ‘hi’, by the way. He’s gonna tear you apart. He’s gonna taste the iron in your blood.”

“Let him go, or I swear to God…..” Dean growls.

“What? What are you and God gonna do?” The demon scoffs unimpressed. “You see, as far as I’m concerned, this is justice.” I open my mouth to scream at the demon and he tuts before raising a hand, my vocal cords seizing up and blood choking me. “This is a family conversation. Hold your tongue. Speaking of family…….” I gasp for air as more blood fills my mouth and Dean strains forward before the demon moves toward me to whisper in my ear. “You know that little exorcism of yours? That was my daughter.”

“Leave her alone.” Dean yells as I groan as my ribs start caving in. I cough out some blood and the demon releases me with a laugh. 

“Aww, isn’t this sweet.” The demon gestures between the two of us as I fall forward gasping for air. “You had a part in it too though. Exorcism of my daughter.”

“Who, Meg?” Dean asks.

“And the one in the alley. That was my boy.” The demon nods at Dean’s question. “You understand?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Dean watches me as I slowly lift my head again staring daggers at the demon.

“What? You’re the only one that can have a family? You destroyed my children!” The demon slams his hand into the wall by Dean’s head, who doesn’t even flinch. “How would you feel if I killed your family?” Dean glares at him and the demon laughs. “Oh wait. I forgot. I already did. Still, two wrongs don’t make a right.”

“You son of a bitch.” Dean whispers.

“I wanna know why.” Sam chimes in. “Why did you do it?”

“Sam….” I shake my head at him knowing it’s not an answer anyone wants to hear.

“Oh no. Let me tell him. It’s such a fun story.” The demon chuckles as he turns to face Sam. “You mean why did I kill Mommy and pretty, little Jess?” He asks for clarification Sam nods yes. “You know, I never told you this, but Sam was gonna ask her to marry him.”

“That supposed to be a shock?” I chuckle. “Figured you’d go for something more ‘I’m his real daddy’ or….” I’m cut off as the demon backhands me.

“I was talking. Don’t be rude.” He points at me threateningly as I spit out the blood that had formed in my mouth. “You want to know why?” He asks over his shoulder at Sam, watching me. “Because they got in the way.”

“In the way of what?” Sam asks calmly.

“My plans for you, Sammy……You and all the children like you.” The demon looks over his shoulder at him. I strain against the binding and wish that I could maneuver my head just an inch or two more to headbutt the smug bastard.

“Listen, you mind just getting this over with, huh?” Dean asks interrupting my plans of violence. “’Cause I really can’t stand the monologuing.” Dean catches my eye and silently tells me to calm down, before letting his face fall to neutral as the demon turns to look at him.

“Funny, but that’s all part of your M.O., isn’t it? Mask all that nasty pain, mask the truth.” John approaches Dean and stands a hairbreadth from him.

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?” Dean responds calmly watching the demon.

“You know, you fight, and you fight for this family, but the truth is they don’t need you.” Dean’s face twitches but remains stoic. “Not like you need them. Sam…. He’s clearly John’s favorite. Even when they fight, it’s more concern than he’s ever shown you. And Percy…. Well you dragged her along on this trek to feel needed. But truth is she’s been saving your ass since you called her. You wouldn’t be here without her. And Sam’s her favorite, the only reason she’s really stuck around.” 

I squirm against the wall biting my tongue wishing I could throttle the man. I’m gonna kill you… you rotten piece of...ugh!

“I bet you’re real proud of your kids, too, huh?” Dean responds smugly. “Oh, wait, I forgot. I wasted ‘em.”

The demon looks down for a moment and when he looks back up Dean yells in pain and blood starts running down his torso.

“Dean!” Sam and I both yell.

“Dad!” Dean pleads with the demon, or at least the part of him that could save him. “Dad, don’t you let it kill me!” Dean spasms against the wall and screams louder. Sam and I continue struggling. “Dad, please.” 

“You better hope I don’t get down from here.” I scream as Dean passes out blood coating most of his upper body. John’s head drops briefly and the force holding me, and Sam up disappears. I jump forward grab the gun spinning to point it at John.

“You gonna shoot their daddy?” The demon taunts me watching as I hold the gun level at his head. “You shoot me and you kill John.”

“Percy….” Sam watches me carefully and I cock the gun.

“Turnabout’s fair play. John will understand.” I answer with a shrug shooting him in the leg. The demon/John collapses and I drop the gun dropping to John’s side as Sam rushes to Dean’s. “Hey.” I shake John lightly trying to wake him as Dean and Sam talk quietly. “John you drama queen…. Wake up!” Sam slides Dean across the floor to us and I turn to take in his injuries. “I got him.” I say to Sam as I move my hand from John to Dean to brace him. A hand shoots out and grabs my wrist shocking me as John gasps for air.

“It’s still alive. It’s inside me. I can feel it.” John looks at me pleadingly. “You shoot me! Shoot me in the heart!” Sam picks up the Colt from where I had dropped it and aims it at his father. “Do it, now Sam!”

Dean falls forward onto my shoulder and I shift to hold him up. “Sam. Don’t you do it. Don’t you do it.” I slowly stand up letting Dean lean on my leg.

“Sam you do it now! I can’t hold on to it much longer. You shoot me, son! Shoot me!” John yells and the strain in his voice makes me cringe. “Son, I’m begging you! We can end this here and now! Sammy! You kill me.” I look at Sam’s face and place a hand on his lowering the gun. A second later black smoke explodes from John’s mouth and I shrink back causing Dean to fall forward. When the black smoke dissipates I drop back to Deans side and roll him over.

“Sam.” I look up and he’s still frozen in place. “Sam!” I smack his leg and he jerks to look down at me. “We need to get them to a hospital. Dean’s lost a lot of blood…. And John’s leaking like a rusty faucet.” Sam nods at me and helps me lift the two dead weights to the car. We start with Dean and prop him up in the back seat, then head back inside and move John to the passenger front seat. I slide into the back by Dean who groans as he tries to sit up and I stop him with a hand on his chest as Sam slams on the gas throwing me into the seat. I shift myself around to look at Dean who just watches me tiredly. 

“Look, just hold on. The hospital is only 10 minutes away.” Sam says to his dad who is avoiding eye contact with his youngest.

“I’m surprised at you, Sammy. Why didn’t you kill it?” John asks looking out the window. I glance up into the rearview mirror and see Sam’s face break. “I thought we saw eye-to-eye on this. Killing this demon comes first…. before me, before everything.”

“Thousands of demons in the world John.” I lean over the bench seat and grab a rag from the dash before returning to the back seat. “Not everyone can kill a family member without a second thought.” I pause to wipe some blood from Dean’s face. “Or an almost family member.” I mutter absently rubbing my collarbone.

“We still have the Colt and one bullet left. We can just start from scratch an……” Sam is cut off as a truck slams into the passenger side of the car throwing me across the seat and into unconsciousness.


	4. Regarding Dean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While on a case Dean starts to lose his memory. Can Percy and Sam figure it out before it's too late?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So out of order but I needed to put Percy and Dean in cute little situations! Don't own Supernatural or the characters.

“Try calling him again then. If you are that worried.” Sam watches as I pace around the room.

“I have tried calling him.” I pause and point at him. “And I’m not worried.” Sam just chuckles at me and turns back to his laptop. I punch in Dean’s number again and shuffle on the balls of my feet as the line rings. Sam’s phone rings and he answers barely looking away from his computer.

“Hello?” He answers and I groan as voicemail kicks in again. I’m not worried….. just annoyed. I tell myself quietly as I glare at my phone. “Dude. Where the hell have you been?” I look up at Sam and he mouths ‘Dean’ while pointing at his phone. “Percy is losing her mind. She’s been trying to reach you all night.”

“You son of a bitch!” I yell loud enough to be heard. Sam holds up his hand to silence me and I bite my tongue as I sit across from him.

“Well where are you now?” Sam waits a minute before his brow crinkles in confusion. “What?” I reach across the table and grab the phone from him.

“Dean?” I ask as I hold the phone to my ear trying to not let the frustration show in my voice.

“Hey Princess. How would you feel about some waffles?” I blink as I try to make sense of the sentence. “Right you would have to be a psychopath to not want waffles. Meet me at Waldo’s.” The line clicks off.

“Wait…. Dean… wha…...?” I put the phone on the table and look at Sam. “So apparently we are going for waffles?”

~*~

Walking into the diner the smell of sweet syrup and fruits wafts our way. I glance around the room and smack Sam on the arm when I locate Dean. The waitress has just placed another plate in front of him and I stealthily grab a fork from one of the tables we walk by and leaning around Dean’s shoulder to grab a bite before sitting down beside him. He jumps slightly at the movement by his side before relaxing noticing it’s me. Dean goes to open his mouth and I silently hold up the bottle of Tylenol I had in my pocket He mutters his thanks as Sam slides onto the stool on his other side.

“Rough night?” Sam asks as Dean struggles with the lid on the bottle. I watch curiously as he turns the bottle over before trying the lid again. After a brief glance at Sam I gently reach across Dean and pop the lid off the bottle.

“Rough morning.” Was Dean’s response before popping two pills down his gullet and taking a sip of coffee.

“What happened?” Sam closes the pill bottle and stows it in his pocket.

“You went out to get some food.” I grumble out grabbing the plate of waffles in front of him. “Better late than never I suppose.” I shovel the sweet concoction into my mouth as Dean watches me sadly with a muffled, ‘my waffles’ slipping out.

“I don’t know.” Dean picks up his fork to grab a bite of the waffles and I respond with a glare and a smack on the back of his hand with my fork. 

“What does that mean?” Sam urges his brother to answer.

“I guess I blacked out.” Dean sighs realizing I’m not going to share. “And judging from this hangover, it was epic.”

“I tried calling you.” I put the fork down having polished off the whole plate of food. Dean picks up his phone and passes it to me. The screen completely smashed with no response to any buttons being pushed. “Well that explains it then.”

“Not sure how that happened.” Dean sips on his coffee as the waitress comes by to clear the plates in front of us. I point over at Dean’s cup quietly asking for more and she nods before hurrying off.

“All right, well, I’ll text Mom, make sure she knows to get ahold of me or Percy in case of an emergency.” Sam pulls his phone out quickly typing up a message.

“Don’t forget Cas.” I throw out watching as Dean scrunches his face up in confusion momentarily. “In case he finds Kelly.” I continue, and Dean just continues to stare at me blankly. “The mother…. Of Lucifer’s love child?” MY gaze flits over to Sam who is watching us confused too.

“Right right.” Dean responds as the lightbulb flips on. “Yes, the Devil baby mama drama.” He chuckles to himself and looks at me. “Say that five times fast.”

“I think I’ll pass.” I return his little grin. “You really had some fun last night huh?”

“Yeah, you had a good run but remember you aren’t twenty anymore.” Sam chuckles at both of us.

“Okay, one…” Dean holds up his finger to count. “The Rat Pack partied until the day they died. And” His face screws up as he thinks for a moment, “B…. I can still kick your ass.”

“Uhhuh Tiger. You keep telling yourself that.” I laugh and stand up placing a few twenties on the counter to pay for his meal. “Let’s go get to the morgue. Should be opening soon.”

“The morgue?” Dean asks confusion washing over his face again.

“Okay seriously…… What the hell happened to you last night?” I ask peering at his face for an answer. “The morgue…. Where we will see the autopsy results.” He blinks at me slowly. “Are you still drunk?”

“I don’t think so.” Dean answers with a shake of his head as Sam sniffs his brother. He shrugs at me and I watch Dean carefully as Sam explains.

“Our case? The dead guy, throat stuffed full of money. Any of this ring a bell?” 

“Right, yes, right. Um the accountant….” Dean looks to me as he searches for a name.

“Barry Gilman?” I supply worry creasing my brow. He points at me with a smile of thanks. 

“You two think he got his ticket punched by a demon.” Dean continues.

“Well, one of us does.” I answer pointing over at Sam.

“But when we went over to his place yesterday, we got a whole bunch of jack and a little bit of squat.” I nod as he summarizes. “There were no hex bags, no EMF, no sulfur…. Which means no case.”

“Yeah, but if it’s not a case, then what is it?” Sam asks earning a shrug.

“I don’t know. Death by money?” Dean answers. “Maybe the guy got whacked by a mob dude with an ironic sense of humor.”

“Jackpot.” I whisper earning a chuckle from Dean and a ‘are-you-serious’ look from Sam. “Sorry…. I had to.” I grin unapologetically at him. “It was there.”

“All right. Well, that may be the case but I’m gonna go scope out the body.” Sam waves down the waitress. “Maybe you two should enjoy some more waffles in the meantime.”

“Fine, hold on.” Dean waves off the questioning look the waitress gives and gestures for me to follow Sam. We pause when a girl walks up to Dean with a look in her eyes that Sam and I knew too well. “Hi.” Dean shoots us a look and I roll my eyes at him. “And who are you?” Dean asks the girl. Her face falls milliseconds before she slaps him. I hide my laugh behind my hand trying to look shocked, but let’s be honest, he probably deserved it. The rest of the crowd in the diner gasp in shock as the girl stalks back to her booth of friends. “Yep. Epic night.” Dean pushes past Sam and groans at my amused look before leaving the diner.

“Wait Dean!” I rush after him laughing.

~*~

We head over to the morgue after stopping at the motel to change into our fed clothes. I stare at the body in front of us as we wait for the technician to bring us the evidence box.

“Thanks. We’ll let you know if we need anything else.” Dean says a little more stilted than normal as the technician leaves us alone again. Sam places the evidence box down and passes the folder to me.

“Suffocation.” I flip through the pages. “That’s what they have listed as official cause of death.” I glare down at the page. “What gave that away? The money in his windpipe?” 

“We already knew that.” Dean responds.

“Hey Sam. Try pulling evidence bag B 1-4” I read from the report in hand and Sam starts rooting through the box. I glance behind me as Dean gags at the sight of the bloody money in the bag. “Are you okay?” I whisper at him and he waves me off holding a hand up to his mouth. Sam peers over my shoulder at the report.

“Says they pulled all of this from his stomach.” Sam jiggles the bag around slightly and Dean coughs a little. Sam turns back to the box and rifles through it some more as I watch Dean who seems to be grossed out by the whole situation. “Well well.” Sam’s voice pulls both our heads around. “You were saying about an ironic mobster?” Sam passes the bag to me and I sigh.

“Witch.” I grin in victory. “Which means….. I was right.” My grin falters as Sam looks at me unimpressed. “Just saying.”

“So the witch force feeds old Barry here a hex bag and then casts a spell.” Dean gestures at the body beside us.

“Yeah a spell that pumps him so full of cash, he dies choking on it.” 

“Ugh, witches. Well, I guess it’s true what they say.” Dean groans at the witch word. “Mo’ money, mo’ problems.” Sam and I both turn and look at him incredulously. He shrugs and walks around both of us chuckling.

“That isn’t Dean is it?” I watch him saunter off down the hallway and Sam shrugs in response face still contorted in confusion.

“Maybe he’s still drunk.” Sam gestures for me to follow his brother and we catch up with him just outside. 

“Why would somebody want Barry dead?” Dean holds the door open for me asking. “I mean what did he screw up a tax return or something?”

“He wasn’t that kind of accountant.” I respond offhandedly.

“Well, whatever he was, looks like he, uh, certainly made one hell of a….” Dean holds his hand up snapping as he searches for the word he’s looking for. 

“Enemy?” Sam supplies.

“Enemy. Yeah. Those guys.” Dean smiles at me as he opens the driver’s side door for me to slide into the Impala.

“Maybe he blew the wrong person’s savings.” Sam offers sliding into the passenger side.

“All right, well, let’s check out his clients.”

“Which ones? Barry worked for the richest families in town.” Dean slides in next to me as Sam asks him a question. I watch as Dean flips through the keys in his hand idly. After a few seconds of silence I glance at his face and realize he’s looking for the car key. I rest a hand on his and pull the keys up by the right key and jingle them.

“Maybe I should drive.” I offer. “Your” I use air quotes, “’epic night’ seems to still be effecting you.” Dean waves me off and slides the key into the ignition and flipping the car into gear. Looking over his shoulder he presses the gas and we squeal forward into the newspaper boxes causing a woman to scream. “R…. Dean!” I reach over and flip the gear into reverse before checking on Sam who is waving an apology at the woman nearby.

“Son of a bitch!” Dean yells slamming his hand on the wheel.

“That’s it! I’m driving!” I turn to Dean who opens his mouth to argue and I glare at him until his shuts his mouth. “Good. Now move.” I lift myself up and scoot across his lap until I’m in the drivers seat and he is squished between me and Sam pouting like a wounded puppy.

“This thing with the Devil’s kid and getting tossed into West Guantanamo. Maybe it’s all just taking it’s toll on you.” Sam says exasperated. “Dude you are wrecked. And we got a case to work, so get it together, all right?”

Dean just stares at his brother blankly and I place a hand on his arm letting the engine idle. “Dean? Are you okay?” I shake his arm lightly and he turns to me. “Dean?”

“Who’s Dean?” He asks tilting his head at me. I pause and have a silent argument with Sam. 

“You are going back to the motel.” I say finally pulling us out of the parking lot and down the road to the motel. 

“I told you, I’m fine.” Dean says as we escort him into the motel room.

“Dean, you forgot your own name.” Sam argues back with him.

“For a second. Okay, yeah, that was weird.” Dean slips his jacket off and looks at it before holding it up to the wall and letting it fall. I sigh and point for him to go sit down as I pick up his coat and hang it up.

“All right, look, we know we’re dealing with a witch, right? Maybe you got hexed.” Sam offers up as I slide into the chair at the table and pull his laptop across to myself.

“Dude.” Dean chuckles turning to look at Sam. “if a witch got a clear shot of me, I would be dead, okay? I wouldn’t be freaking…. Uh….. Dory.” 

“Dory?” Sam asks surprised at the reference.

“I’m not gonna apologize for loving that fish.” Dean shakes his head. “Not to you, not to anyone.”

“Dean this is serious.” I card my fingers through my hair and spin the laptop to show him. “There is a reason that spells that deal with memory are few and far between.”

“I’m fine.” Dean insists, and Sam stops him.

“All right. If you are doing so well, name all the members of Bon Jovi.” The little brother tests him. I shake my head at the two.

“Dean would sooner forget about Baby than forget that.” I scoff and Sam nods before gesturing for Dean to answer.

“Okay. Uh, we talking circa 1983?” Dean asks.

“Sure.” Sam responds with a shrug.

“Done. We got Bon Jovi…..” Dean stops and thinks and I watch anxiously. A few seconds of silence and Dean seems to give up. “Whatever. This is stupid. Sam I’m fine.” Sam just looks at him in disbelief. “Percy. Come on. I feel great.” He looks over at me to come to his defense. I watch him in shock and he groans before turning back to the bed. “Look uh…..” He claps his hands before picking up his gun. “This is a gun.” He points behind Sam at the wall where I’d hung his coat. “That is a coat.” He gestures at a lamp on the side table. “This is a…..a….a….. light stick.”

“Did you just say…..?” I let my head slam down onto the table.

“A light st…..” Sam throws his hands up and turns to come over to the table.

“This has to be a sign…..” I mutter at the table and Sam looks at me.

“A sign of….?” Sam urges me to finish.

“The apocalypse…….again.” I lift my head with a sigh. 

“Right.” Sam chuckles then points at his brother. “We are gonna get you some help.” He pulls out sticky notes and a permanent marker writing down ‘LAMP’.

“Look, we could figure this out, okay?” Dean says unconvincingly from where he’s standing next to the lamp. “Don’t go calling Mom or Cas with this.”

“We won’t sweetie.” I push out of my chair responding in a soothing tone. “How about we sit down?” I lead him over to the bed and push him to sit leaving my hand on his shoulder.

“Until you get better.” Sam places the sticky note on the lamp and Dean snaps his fingers in recognition. I sit down beside him on the bed and lightly rub his back. This would almost be amusing if it wasn’t so terrifying. I think as I trace small shapes across his shoulders. How long until he isn’t him anymore? Sam holds up his phone indicating that he is going to make a call and I nod in understanding. Sam wanders around the room labelling everything as he waits for the phone call to connect.

“Why don’t you rest Dean?” I offer with a smile dragging those green eyes to me. “Maybe it’ll help… hmm?” Dean nods absently at me and lets me lead him until he is laying down. “I’ll be right over there.” I point at the table and go to slide off the bed but he stops me with a hand on my wrist locking me in place. “Or I can stay here….” I mutter shifting to lean against the headboard comfortably.

“We need your help Rowena.” Sam says into his phone.

“Rowena? Really?” Dean shoots into a sitting position and I glare at Sam who looks at me apologetically.

“Yes. Really.” He answers as Dean looks at me.

“We got any beer?” I blink slowly as he gets up off the bed and heading to the fridge pulling out two bottles of vodka. He waves them at me with a happy smile. Well at least it’s in the alcohol family. I sigh inwardly putting on my most convincing smile before joining Sam where he’s whispering into the phone. As I approach he puts the phone on speaker.

“Maybe he’s just drunk.” Rowena says in response to Sam’s explanation.

“We need ice.” Dean says from behind him and I smile at him indicating to give us a moment.

“He’s not drunk.” I respond calmly.

“We could do a memory spell. But did his hair fall out?” Rowena asks across the line and I look up at Sam confused. “His body, too?”

“What?” Sam voices both of our thoughts.

“From the neck down, is he smooth like a Ken doll?” She explains.

“I don’t know.” Sam answers.

“In his current condition I feel like asking him if I could check would be taking advantage of him.” I say at the same time earning a weirded out look from Sam which I shrug off.

“Rules out mnemonic curse.” Rowena murmurs. “The obliviate spell wipes the memory clean over time, but it’s intricate magic…..”

“And if used by someone not versed enough in the magical arts can cause some serious side effects.” I point at Sam. “I’m telling you…. Apocalypse.” Sam just looks at me in wonder a slight glint of bemusement in his eye.

“How do we break it?” Sam asks.

“Theoretically?” Rowena thinks momentarily. “Kill the witch.”

“That makes sense.” I answer and Sam hangs up the phone. “All right Dean…..” I look up at where the older Winchester had been not long before to find the room empty. “Dean?” Sam and I exchange a look when we see the door open slightly. We head for the door and look around outside. “Dean?!” I call quickly ascending the stairs outside our door. “Dean!” I breath a sigh of relief when I see Dean standing by a door up ahead. “Dean!” I call him and his head jerks up to look at me before a smile breaks out.

“Percy.” He looks down trying to fit the key into the lock in front of him.

“Yeah. Whatcha doing?” I ask cautiously approaching him.

“Getting ice.” Dean gestures at the ice bucket in his hands. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for you.” I answer simply taking his arm in mine. “That’s not our room hun.” He looks between me and the door he’d been trying to access.

“All these dumps look the same.” He looks around and points back the way I had come from and I answer with a nod.

“I know.” I pat his arm as I lead him down the hall explaining what Rowena had told us. Sam meets us at the top of the stairs a look of relief falling over his face when he sees his brother.

“So this spell. I’m stuck in some sort of ‘Memento’ crap?” Dean asks me sliding past Sam without any look of recognition.

“Yeah pretty much.” I answer, mouthing ‘ice’ at Sam’s questioning gaze.

“Right. The fix sounds fairly simple.” Sam supplies after nodding at me. “You just find the witch who did it and kill it.”

“Halle-freakin-lujah.” Dean responds waiting for me to catch up to him on the stairs.

“I think you go hexed last night.” Sam says from behind me as I fall in beside Dean.

“Yeah?” Dean looks over my shoulder at his brother.

“Yeah, we need to retrace your steps.” We reach the bottom of the stairs as Sam says. “All right, think. What’s the last thing you remember you did?”

Dean taps the ice bucket in his hand then looks down at it before opening the lid showing Sam. “I got some ice.” Sam looks at me exasperated and I chuckle lightly.

“Yeah you did. We were hoping more for what you remember from yesterday.” I close the ice bucket lid with a sweet smile and take it from Dean placing it on the stairs behind me. “Maybe we should retrace our steps.” I offer to Sam. “Stop by Gilman’s office. Maybe jog his memory.” Sam thinks for a minute then agrees heading towards the car, with me leading Dean right behind him.

~*~

“Okay how is this not bothering you?” Sam asks me as we approach Gilman’s office with Dean trailing behind us.

“It is.” I answer honestly. “But we’ve lost him to death too many times and he always manages to come back relatively the same.” 

“And if we can’t find the witch?” Sam says holding the office door open for me.

“That’s not even an option.” I pause and let Dean enter the room. “At least when he was dead he wasn’t physically there to torture me…… Us.” I sigh as Sam watches me knowingly. “I honestly can’t think up a worst kind of torture. We are going to find this witch.” I push into the office without another word and Sam watches as I gently take the letter opener Dean had picked up and place it back on the desk. With a shake of his head Sam follows us in letting the door close behind him. “Okay walk us through it Dean.” I take a seat at the desk watching him quietly.

“Okay from yesterday the last thing I kinda sorta remember is us being here, in, um…….” Dean paces gesturing at the three of us then snapping while he thinks. Sam kneels next to the file cabinet and starts going through files. “big guy’s office.” He finally says pointing at the chair I’m sitting in.

“Barry Gilman.” I offer watching him struggle to find the name.

“Yes.” He looks at me gratefully before turning to Sam. “And we were here and we were, uh, we were looking for leads.” Dean opens a box in front of me on the desk pulling out a cigar with a chuckle. “Douche tax.” He explains to me before sliding it into his jacket pocket. I roll my eyes with a smirk as Sam voices my exact thoughts.

“Yeah, you did that yesterday, too.” Dean looks at me for confirmation and I just smile sadly at him. “All right, come here. Check these out.” Sam points at the pictures behind me and Dean shuffles past me to look. “Do these shake anything loose, these pictures?” I stand up as Dean scrutinizes the pictures and stand behind him waiting for a look of recognition.

“No. None of them.” He turns away from the wall and leans on the cabinet next to me.

“Okay, think hard. What happened next? I went to hit the lore. Percy went to see what she could find out around town. You went out for a burger. So…..” Sam trails off and Dean thinks hard.

“So…..” Dean looks at me at a loss and I pat his hand encouragingly before he turns back to Sam. “What do you want me to say? I ate ‘em?”

“Better not be what happened.” I grumble. “I was hungry too.”

“Okay. You know what?” Sam throws his head back in frustration. “It’s not a big town. How many burger joints can there be? Come on.” He gestures for us to follow him.

“37.” I pipe up pushing off the cabinet and taking a confused Dean’s hand in mine leading him to the car.

~*~

“All right. Anything?” Sam asks Dean as we enter the third bar of the day.

“No, I mean, this is the third place we’ve been to.” Dean sighs in frustration as he checks to make sure I’m still behind him. “I… I…. No. It’s…..”

“It’s alright Dean. Take a minute.” I say softly taking in the establishment. My eyes fall on a brunette walking back to the bar and I smack him as I recognize her. “Hey. Look.” He follows my pointing and looks at her.

“Wait….. “ He thinks for a second and smiles. “It’s… it’s her from, uh, from the waffles.”

“All right come on.” Sam leads us both over to her and clears his throat as he approaches. “Excuse me. Hi.”

“Hey.” Dean says with a nod at her. I smile in greeting.

“If you’re gonna apologize, you better make it quick.” She says barely glancing at us.

“Me apologize?” Dean watches her load up the tray. “Uh, you smacked me.”

“You were being a dick. We’re even.”

“Even for what?” Sam interjects.

“That’s none of your…. Who are you?” She looks at me and Sam like she hadn’t even noticed us before.

“Dean apologize to her.” I whisper harshly elbowing him in the ribs. He looks down at me momentarily with a look that screamed he didn’t want to but I just glared him until he huffed and stepped after her.

“Okay, look, whatever happened with us, um, I’m sorry. Okay? See, here’s the deal. We’re, um, we’re….” We all follow her as she delivers a tray to one of the tables. Dean looks to me and Sam for help.

“We’re FBI.” Sam jumps in pulling out his badge from his pocket. “Agents Moon, Entwistle, and Lyons.”

“FBI?” The waitress looks us up and down with a smirk. “Last night, you told me your name was Springsteen.” I groan and throw my head back when she turns her back to us. “Like The Boss.” 

“Yeah, see, sometimes we have to lie in order to, uh, to protect our cover.” Dean says following her to her next table.

“No way.” She responds sarcastically.

“Look. I get it.” I voice and slip around all of them stopping in front of her. “He is a dick….” I smile apologetically at the look Dean gives me before continuing. “Most of the time. But we think something happened while he was here last night.”

“We think our partner may have been roofied.” Sam says behind her causing her to turn with wide eyes.

“Seriously.” She glances at me and I nod.

“Seriously?” Dean asks at the same time.

“If you can tell us anything about what happened last night, it would be a big help.” Sam continues after the waitress as Dean looks at me.

“You think I was roofied?” Dean asks with concern in his voice. I pat his arm with a sad smile and lead him after Sam.

“Sure. I….” She starts as we approach and sets the now empty tray on one of the stand alone tables by the bull. “He ordered burgers to go. It was gonna be a minute. We were slammed. Then you knocked back….. four shots of tequila?” Dean nods at the same time as me and Sam because we all knew that was Dean. “Put some ‘sick jams’ on the juke, and then you hit the bull.”

“He what?” Sam and I say to the last thing looking over at the mechanical bull, our questioned mirrored by Dean.

“Oh, yeah, you had the hots for Larry as soon as you walked in here.” She smirks as we all watch the girl currently riding ‘Larry’.

“Him?” I point at Dean incredulously. “He rode Larry?”

“Was I good?” Dean asks the girl after a moment.

“You were… amazing.” She answers and I look at Sam.

“I need a drink to process this.” I blurt out and head over to the bar waving down the bartender. Dean watches after me a little forlorn but stays with Sam and the waitress. I sit quietly sipping my drink and watching the boys until a proud look crosses Dean’s face. “So he did sleep with her. Figures.” I tip my drink back and place the glass on the bar as I turn to wave down the bartender again. A few minutes later I feel a hand on the middle of my back.

“Percy?” Dean says and I turn and smile at him. “We got…. Um….” He points up towards the ceiling and thinks.

“Security cameras?” I ask to which he nods. “Lead the way.” I grab my second drink and toss it back throwing enough money on the bar to pay and then follow Dean to where Sam is sitting with his laptop.

“Okay, whoa.” Dean exclaims as the video starts. “There I am.” Dean leans closer to the screen squinting and I watch amused. “Wait, wait, wait, wait……” He mutters.

“What are you doing?” Sam asks.

“I’m trying to read my lips.” We watch for a second and Dean says, “Now salsa you mittens.”

“This memory spell give you Tourette’s?” I ask jokingly looking at the footage.

“You can’t read lips.” Sam reminds his brother.

“I can’t read lips.” Dean agrees leaning back. We watch for a moment more to see Dean thrown through the air. “You see that?”

“Yeah, of course. I think we got our witch.” Sam answers before turning to his brother. “What so you don’t remember any of this?”

“It’s like watching myself on Netflix.” Dean answers with a shake of his head. 

“Perc?” I lean forward when Sam says my name and he points at the screen where he has the witch frozen. “Does he look familiar to you? That jacket?” I look at the screen for a moment before shaking my head. “I think Barry had a picture of him in his office. It might be how Dean recognized him last night.” Sam clicks around a few time and the video plays alittle further before freezing again.

“And I take a shot.” Dean says excitedly turning to me. “I know how to shoot a gun?”

“Yeah hun.” I pat his arm lightly and stand up. “Let’s go take a look.” Dean looks at me momentarily before agreeing and standing up beside me. Once Sam gathers his stuff we head out to the back area.

“Perc. Help me line this up?” Sam asks and I nod turning to Dean.

“Stay right here.” I say gently pointing to where he’s standing.

“He crashed there.” Sam points at the garbage behind me as I move to his side. “Then he ran that way.” Sam shines his light off to my right. “And he shot from…..” Sam scans the ground with the light before kneeling next to a shell casing. “Here.” Sam picks it up and shows it to me.

“Witch killing bullet.” I take in the etchings on the side.

“Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait.” Dean comes up to stand behind me and I turn to face him. “There are witches?”

“You okay?” I pass the bullet to Sam who watches as I place a calming hand on Dean’s arm.

“Witches are real?” He asks me again his gaze flickering from me to Sam and then back again.

“Yeah. Witches are real.” Sam answers. “Vampires, werewolves, and witches. They’re all real. And we…” Sam shines the flashlight between all of us. “Hunt them.”

“Dean?” I say worriedly. He stares down at me before a smile slowly breaks out across his face.

“Awesome. That’s awesome.” I breath a sigh and then smile back at him.

“Yeah it is.” I squeeze his arm briefly casting a glace over at Sam. “Okay wait right here. I’ll be right back. Okay?” I wait until Dean nods at me before letting go of his arm and stepping back over to Sam. “We need to fix this.” I mutter earning a grunt of agreement from Sam.

“We should go that way.” Sam points off in the direction Dean had run last night before striding off with purpose. I take a few steps and then stop and turn to look at Dean who is digging through his jacket pockets.

“Hey Dean.” He looks up at me with a goofy smile and I wave him over. “Come on. Let’s go for a walk.” He comes over to my side and let’s me lead him after his brother pulling a flashlight out of his pocket with a chirp of happiness. We walk through the woods Dean and Sam stopping every now and then to help me step over a fallen log or something, while Dean asked us a million questions about creatures.

“Okay, so wait.” Dean steadies me as I quietly curse my skirt and heels I had decided to wear. “So…. So djinns don’t grant wishes, and sirens aren’t all hot chicks?” He asks me.

“Well not in your case anyway.” I answer and Sam looks at me with a chuckle.

“This is crazy.” Sam says to us both.

“What is?” Dean shines the light off to his left.

“US giving you ‘the talk’. Do you know how many times we’ve had to tell some civilian that monsters are real?” Sam laughs breathlessly.

“Yeah, but monsters are real.” Dean says excitement creeping back into his voice. “And we’re the guys that kill ‘em, man. I mean, come on. Best job ever.”

“Yeah. If you like greasy diner food, crappy motel rooms, and more than one Apocalypse.” Sam grumbles out.

“Oh and don’t forget the shit benefits.” I throw out causing Sam to chuckle.

“I don’t know.” Dean offers me his hand which I take gratefully as he thinks for a moment. “We kinda sound like heroes to me.”

Sam gestures back at me to get my attention then points along his flashlight beam. We look and see a bloody handprint and a bullet hole a bit further up. Dean has hold of my arm and is looking at the tree in awe when he suddenly turns to me and exclaims. “AND our best friend’s an angel.”

“We just gotta get you cured.” Sam replies heading off deeper into the woods.

“I don’t know. I kind of like him like this.” I call after Sam patting Dean’s hand and shooing him after his brother.

“Perc look at this.” Sam calls back to me and I jog over carefully my heels sinking into the moist earth. “You recognize it?”

“Those are freaky.” Dean whispers with a laugh and I peer closer to try and figure out the symbols.

“Well, they are glyphs.” I offer up helpfully. “Never seen any like it so far.”

“Maybe Rowena will recognize ‘em.” Sam passes the flashlight to me as he fishes out his phone to take a photo. I watch as Dean wanders around the tree.

“Who’s Rowena?” Dean asks looking at me. “That’s a weird name.”

“You know there are benefits to this spell. Especially if he gets to forget her.” I shrug happily as the camera shutter sounds out in the quiet. I glance up towards Dean and see him quickly moving towards a log. “Dean! Don’t wander off.” I call out to him and pass the flashlight back to Sam. “Got it?” I ask him and he nods before I make my way over to where Dean is looking and follow his gaze before jumping. “Jesus Christ.” I mutter taking in the dead body in front of us. “Found the witch!” I yell over to Sam who comes rushing to our sides.

“That’s a dead guy.” Dean stammers pointing at the body by us to which I nod. “Cool.”

“No Dean. Killing the witch was supposed to be the cure. So if he’ already dead, then why aren’t you….. well you?” Sam looks at me for an explanation and I answer with a shrug.

“So not cool.” Dean looks at me frowning slightly. “Okay, what now?” He asks his voice breaking a little.

“Now we get out of here.” Sam answers for me pointing off into the distance with his flashlight. “Let’s go. Come on.” I reach down and grab Dean’s hand before heading off after Sam pulling the elder boy along as he stares at the dead body.

~*~

We head back to the motel where I help Dean into the washroom passing clothes to him and ordering him to change.

“You know.” I muse once the door is closed. Sam hums at me as he quickly changes around the corner. “I don’t think I want kids anymore.” Sam laughs as he comes around the corner and goes to sit at his computer. “They are a lot of work.” I continue as the door behind me opens to reveal Dean struggling to put on his button down shirt. I reach out and coach him through where the arms go and then head into the bathroom myself, changing into jeans and a tank top. When I open the door again Dean is still standing in the same place and I chuckle as I step out and place a hand on his back leading him over towards the bed.

“Whoa!” Dean gets side tracked and turns to head over to where Sam is sitting. “Is that a dead body?” Sam doesn’t even glance at us as his brother talks. “Never seen a dead guy before.”

“You have seen plenty sweetheart.” I say as Sam chuckles over his shoulder at his brother. “Come on. Let’s let Sammy work.” I lead Dean back over to the bed and sit down next to him He starts talking animatedly about the dead body Sam was looking at and hunting and I smile as I hear a knock on the door. Dean jumps up and heads over for the door turning the knob to open it before either of us can react. “Wait Dean, don……” I grab my gun off the nightstand and level it at the door as Sam mimics my posture from the table. Rowena walks in carrying a bag and stops in front of Dean.

“Who are you?” He asks looking at her for a moment before turning to me. “Who is she?” I sigh and put the gun in the back waistband of my jeans.

“Spell’s progressed, I see.” Rowena struts past Dean who watches confused as he closes the door.

“I wanted intel, Rowena, not a house call.” Sam gestures for me to go to Dean who seems to have forgotten how to move from his spot by the door. Rowena waves him and me off before leading Dean over towards us herself.

“Oh, I have a feeling you’ll come to thank me.” She smiles as Dean reaches up playing with her hair.

“Your hair, it’s all so bouncy.” Dean chuckles as he plays with it.

“Why, thank you.” Rowena smiles up at him running her hands along his arms. “Do we have to fix him?” She asks over her shoulder at Sam.

“Rowena….” I snarl before smiling sweetly at Dean who looks at me concerned by my tone.

“Persephone.” She replies tartly turning back to Dean. I growl at the use of my name but remain stationary as she continues running her hands over Deans. “Those glyphs you found are an archaic form of Celtic. Ogham Chraobh. The Druids used it in their rituals, calling it the ‘Language of the Trees’.”

“Wait. Now the trees are talking?” Dean looks at Sam who looks up startled by the question as Rowena makes her way around Dean.

“Dean, do you remember HBO?” Sam asks and Dean’s face scrunches up adorably as he thinks. “Cinemax?”

“Skinemax.” Dean nods with a smile. Sam looks over at me pleading for help.

“You led him there.” I hold my hands up trying to back out of the conversation. “Like Dean would forget that.” Sam just unleashes his puppy dog eyes on me and I sigh. “Fine.” I hold my hand out to Dean and he walks over immediately taking it in his. “Come on. We will sit over here and watch TV while Sam and Rowena talk. Okay?” Dean nods and lets me lead him to sit on the edge of the bed. I grab the remote from the other bed not releasing Dean’s hand and sit next to him flipping the TV on to see Scooby-Doo.

“Hey. Fun.” Dean leans forward to watch enthusiastically releasing me from his grasp.

“Go on. I got him.” I tell Sam crossing one of my legs underneath me and turning towards the TV. Dean looks at me worriedly as I shift into a more comfortable position leaning against the headboard and I smile at him to ease the concern before pointing back at the TV screen. He turns back to it leaning his back against my propped-up legs. I mindlessly watch the show one of my hands idly hanging over my knees allowing my fingers to brush through Dean’s already tousled hair. He laughed at one point causing Sam and Rowena to turn and look over, a brief relaxed smile showing on Sam’s face at how easily Dean and I were comfortable with one another. I glance over feeling their eyes on me and send a worried look at Sam which he shakes off with a smile. Dean points at the scene on Scooby-Doo with his eyes twinkling and I chuckle at him with a nod.

“… Soon he’ll forget how to speak, how to swallow, and then….” Rowena’s voice raises enough for me to hear and I freeze my hand as I listen. “Dean Winchester’s going to die.”

“Sucks for that guy.” Dean twist around to look up at me. “Don’t you agree Perc?” I force a smile knowing it doesn’t reach my eyes.

“Hey Dean.” Sam calls his brother over after a few minutes of whispering with Rowena. Dean looks over at his brother. “Come with me. We gotta talk.” Dean looks up at me for confirmation and I smile at him.

“It’s okay. I’ll be here. Go talk to Sam.” I shoo him up and he grins back at me before following Sam into the washroom. Once the door is closed I sit up and let my head fall into my hands. “So we don’t fix this and he dies?” I say to Rowena my voice barely carrying.

“Yes. He’s already started to forget everything else.” She replies stepping closer to me. “Except it seems…..” She trails off and roll my head to look at her tiredly. “For you. Everything else he’s forgotten but he still remembers, and more importantly, trusts you.”

“So what do we do?” I sigh ignoring her implications. She looks down at me sadly and sits on the bed quietly. A few minutes later the bathroom door opens and Sam steps out.

“How is he?” Rowena asks pushing up off the bed.

“Like you care.” Sam’s voice is hoarse and he comes to sit by me with a sigh. “You know, I’m beginning to get what you meant earlier.” I turn my head to look at him and see the anguish on his face. Quietly I shift over to sit closer to him and lightly put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ve seen my brother die, but watching him become….” His gaze flits to the bathroom door as he trails off. “This might actually be worse.” I wrap an arm around him and lean my head against his shoulder as we sit there quietly.

“We need to find that grimoire.” Rowena pipes up after allowing us a moment.

“Of course.” Sam sighs. “That’s your angle, isn’t it?” She looks at him shocked by the accusation. “Oh come on Rowena. A powerful spell book shows up and all of a sudden, you’re here to help?” I caution Sam quietly but he shrugs me off. “Altruism isn’t exactly your style.”

“True.” She answers modestly. “Also, it never hurts to have a Winchester owe you one.”

“You are definitely Crowley’s mom.” I groan as I stand up. “I don’t care what it takes Sam. We are getting your brother back.” I point at the witch in front of us. “Even if it means trusting her. Now you two think of a plan. I’m going to check on our amnesia patient and hope to all that is holy that he hasn’t climbed out the bathroom window.” I cross the room to the bathroom door and open it slowly so as to not startle Dean. Stepping inside I close the door behind me and see Dean sitting on the floor shaking.

*In the washroom* 

Dean stands up from the toilet seat where he was and turns on the tap to splash water on his face. Looking up into the mirror he exhales heavily. “Okay.” He sniffs as water drips down his nose but holds his own gaze in the mirror. “My name is Dean Winchester. Sam is my brother. Uh, Mary Winchester is my mom. And Cast….. Cas is my best friend.” He blinks as fog clouds into his mind. “Percy is my best girl friend.” He inhales deeply before starting again. “My name is Dean Wi… Winchester. My name…. My name is Dean…. My brother…..” Tears start to fall down his face as the fog inside his head becomes thicker. “Percy i.... Percy is my….. girl…..” He stumbles back and slides down the wall until he’s sitting. The door beside him opens and he doesn’t even blink as he tries to piece together everything. The smell of roses reaches him as I kneel in front of him.

“Hey. Dean…” I gently place a hand on his shoulder and he breaths in deeply. 

“Percy…..”

“Yeah. Hey look at me.” I lift his head up and see his green eyes shining with tears.

“I can’t… I can’t remember…..”He shakes his head to try and clear some of the fog. “I don’t know who I…..”

“Hey!” I look him squarely in the eyes. “You know me right?” I pick up his hand and squeeze tightly. “Work through it with me.” I settle onto my knees in between his so he can look me in the eye. “What’s my name?”

“I…..” Dean looks into my golden brown eyes and sighs in frustration. I quietly rub my thumb along the back of his hand that I have clasped in mine, waiting patiently for him to work through it. “You…” He looks back up at me and then down at our hands. “Percy?” He didn’t mean for it to come out as a question but my nod brought a slight smile to his face. I reach up and wipe away one of the tears rolling down his face and he turns into my palm.

“Yeah. I’m Percy.” I watch him carefully and feel like my heart is slowly cracking. He was always so strong, even when he was hurting he wouldn’t let anyone see it. This is as bad as I had seen him. I’m going to get you back. “And you are Dean Winchester.” He blinks at me slowly his head still tilted into my hand. “A major pain in my ass and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I grin at the chuckle that earns. “You are stronger than this spell Dean. I know it’s hard but I need you……” I pause and glance at the door way where I can hear Sam and Rowena’s voices. “We….” I correct myself turning back to him, “We need you to fight it. So… again…. Walk me through it.” My thumb strokes his stubbled cheek as he takes a shaky breath.

He looks up a moment later and locks his eyes on mine speaking slowly. “My name is Dean Winchester…. My brother is S….” I squeeze his hand as he stumbles but never take my eyes off him, quietly willing him to remember. “Sam.” I smile at him and urge him to continue. “Mar..Mary Winchester is my mother…. Cas is my….” He breathes deeply and I see the conviction rise in his eyes before he continues. “Cas is my best friend. You are Percy.” He repeats the full cycle another two times before smiling at me tiredly.

“That’s my boy.” I whisper under my breath, hoping he can’t hear me,shifting my weight back to go to stand. He stops me with a light pull on our linked hands.

“Just need a moment.” He whispers and I nod frozen in my place. Without a word he pulls me into a hug and rests his head in the crook of my neck. After a brief moment of shock I lift a hand brush it through his hair soothingly.

“Take all the time you need Tiger.” I sigh lightly as he absently draws circles on my back where his hands had settled. I start to hum Metallica’s “Some Kind of Monster” which seems to help Dean relax. After sitting like that for a few minutes I slowly ease back from the hug and smile at him. “You back with me now?” He nods releasing me, so I can stand up while he rubs his face. I hold a hand down to him which he takes and allows me to pull him up. Catching a glimpse of his face in the mirror he winces before stepping past me to splash water on his face again.

“Sam….” He trails off when I place a hand on his shoulder.

“Your secret is safe with me. Sammy will never find out.” I smile at him in the mirror before stepping towards the bathroom door and holding my hand out to him. “Ready to get yourself back?” Dean nods and takes my hand in his and lets me lead him out into the bedroom. Rowena looks up from where she is standing when we reenter the room, and I notice she is the only one there. “Where’s Sam?” I ask stopping Dean from walking into me.

“Where do you think?” She gestures at the door with a sigh.

“He went by himself?!” I step forward releasing Dean’s hand and head for my phone motioning for the elder Winchester to stay put. “I’m going to kill him.” I growl out as I punch in his phone number. Voicemail pops up immediately and I groan before speaking sweetly into the phone. “Sammy…. Check your damned phone!” Dean jumps at my raised voice and I hold a hand up quietly telling him its okay. “I swear, if you go in there by yourself I will….” I growl as I can’t think of an appropriate torture for the younger Winchester. “I actually don’t think there are words for what I’m going to do when I catch up with you. Call me back.” I toss the phone at the bed and groan again in frustration pulling a hand through my hair. Dean is still watching me and I force myself to calm down. “Okay right…. First we save you….. then we kill Sammy.” I walk past him briefly running a hand along his arm until I’m by Rowena’s side. MY eyes fall on a white circle painted on the floor. “Rowena…..?”

“Yes dear.” She answers pleasantly turning to look at me.

“Why did you decide to deface our motel room?” I point at the circle on the floor in clarification.

“Oh, just a spell to help.” She replies with a tiny smirk. 

“To help?” I start to argue and then pull myself back together with a deep breath after looking at Dean who is rocking back and forth on his toes. “So I take it you need him over here?” I ask gesturing at Dean, she nods agreement. I walk quietly over to Dean and then lead him to stand inside the circle before stepping back. Dean looks around and then reaches over to poke one of the ingredients the witch has strewn across the tabletop.

“Stop touching everything.” She snaps smacking his hand away. I step forward and lightly take Dean’s wrists pulling them away from the table and turning him to face me.

“Hey. How about we don’t touch the things that could potentially kill us?” I lightly run my thumbs along the inside of his wrists and he nods at me with a grin. 

“Sorry.” He says sheepishly to Rowena over his shoulder before looking around the room. “I’m bored.” He finally says causing me to laugh. Rowena sighs and reaches into her bag pulling out a voodoo doll and needles.

“Here, play with this and I’ll tell you a story.” She holds the doll out to him. He looks back to me quietly asking if it’s okay.

“So long as you don’t picture me while you stab it.” I release his hands with a chuckle so he can take the doll. “Oh, and please don’t stab yourself.” I settle myself on the windowsill behind me as Dean leans on the table Rowena is working on.

“Once, a beautiful witch was, again, run out of her homeland,” Rowena looks at me a glint in her eye as she nods between me and Dean. I sigh at what she is getting at and wave her off. “By those pompous, self-righteous, murderous hooligans. You know them as The British Men of Letters. She sought refuge with a family of witches. All she wanted was a roof over her head and a safe place to hone her magic.” I watch as Dean seems very concentrated on stabbing the doll in his hands. “Yet, they threw her out like…. Like common trash. Said she wasn’t up to snuff.”

“Oh, these witches sound like dicks.” Dean stops poking at the doll and looks over at the witch. “I think you got plenty of snuff.”

Rowena laughs and looks over at me. “I rather like him this way.”

“No Rowena.” I reply curtly. “Now please….” I motion towards the table and she nods discreetly before looking at Dean.

“You can really remember nothing, can you? What a gift not to recall the things you’ve done.” She continues pulling items from her bag whilst she talks.

“What have I done?” Dean asks resting the doll on his knee.

“Oh, you’re a killer, Dean Winchester.” She answers simply and I push off the windowsill to advance towards her fury on my face. “Manete.” She freezes me in place with a word and Dean whirls to look at me and I tell him it’s fine and to stay put.

“Rowena sto…...” I growl and she silences me with another word and wave of the hand. 

“Wait, I kill people?” Dean asks the pure innocence on his face contorted with confusion. I struggle against the force holding me in place.

“Scores.” She answers proudly until Dean looks away a little upset. “But…. But…. Though you may be a stubborn pain in the arse with the manners of a Neanderthal and the dining habits of a toddler, everything you’ve done, you’ve done….. “ She pauses to roll her eyes and scoff, “for the greater good.” 

“Oh and that’s supposed to make it okay?” He asks.

“I wouldn’t know.” She scoffs looking over at me. “You help those other than yourself. But me? I’ve done horrible things, and I told myself it was fine. It was the price of power. And power’s what matters, right? Then I met God and his sister. The two most powerful beings in the universe, wasting it on squabbling with each other. I thought, if…. If they can’t be happy, or at least satisfied, how can there be any hope for me?” She waves her hand at me and the force holding me still releases and I stumble slightly before glaring at her.

“Why are you telling me this?” Dean asks her looking at me with concern until I wipe my hands on my jeans still glaring at the witch.

“Because I know you won’t remember.” She whispers before booping his nose. Her phone starts to ring and I step into the circle Dean shifting to the side so I can sit next to him.

“You’re in?” She says placing her phone on speaker then onto the table.

“Shh. Yeah, I’m in.” Sam’s voice comes through the line as a whisper.

“Sam!” I jump and spin to yell at the phone. “Get your ass out of there before I kick it into next week.”

“Percy shhh.” He hisses into the phone and I glare. “I’m fine. Just watch Dean.” I grumble my disagreement but settle back to sit. “All right, as soon as I get the translation, you cast the spell.” The line garbles as we hear shuffling. My knee starts to bounce impatiently and Dean places his hand on it to steady it. “This gun is full of witch killing bullets,” Sam’s muffled voice carries over the line a few minutes later. “So why don’t you go to your grimoire and tell me how to break the memory spell?”

“I told him you’d come.” A female voice carries over the line, tone nonplussed. “Boyd wanted to go after you, but I said, ‘Why bother?’. You’re hunters. You’ll hunt us down, right at our doorstep. Hot and fresh like pizza.” I wrinkle my nose at her description but keep quiet.

“I’m not asking you again.”

“ABI!” A shout rings through quickly followed by a thud and a grunt.

“Sam!” I spin around to look at the phone waiting for a response.

“Age nunc intellectum, age nunc intellectum atque voluntatem omnem meam.” The female voice reappears and Sam starts groaning in pain.

“Uhhhh Rowena? What’s going on?” I look at her in fear and she shakes her head. “Sam?!” I look at Dean then back to the phone. “Stay here.” I order him grabbing my jacket off the hook on the wall and racing outside to boost a car.

~*~

I enter the witches house with my gun raised. “All right Sammy. Where you at?” I whisper swinging around the corner to search. “Any sign would be appreciated.” I mutter to myself as a scream pierces the air coming from upstairs. “Okay maybe not any sign….” I take the stairs two at a time and head in the direction of the scream. I push the door open with my foot and immediately am thrown through the air smacking my head on the doorframe and blacking out.

~*~

When Sam regains consciousness he finds himself in a dimly lit library tied to a chair next to Percy in the same position. He looks up and sees the two witches conversing and hides his head again to pretend to be unconscious. The door downstairs closes and the witches are both startled before the female orders her companion. “Do it. Please. For me?” After he takes the knife from her she disappears downstairs to investigate.

Sam watches quietly as the other witch circles the table and Percy starts to stir. 

Son of a….. my head hurts. I bite back a groan as I blink at the light to regain my vision. I look up and see Sam watching me concern flickering in his eyes. ‘I’m good.’ I answer silently looking across the room at the witch as he slices his palm.

“You don’t wanna do this.” Sam says to him.

“Well, well, well. Look whose awake.” The witch glance our way with a smirk.

“Okay, so whatever your sister has planned, you don’t have to do it.” Sam responds calmly as I twist my wrists against the binds.

“You mean, swapping your soul for his?” The witch point between the dead body in front of him and Sam. “I’m afraid I do.”

“Where do I come in?” I ask my voice breaking from hoarseness.

“Oh… well my sister…” The witch chuckles, “She quite likes you. So when all this…” He gestures at Sam again. “is done, she intends to swap rides, so to speak.”

“Not a chance in hell.” I respond with a laugh, my hands pulling at the rope holding me in place.

“You don’t really get a say in the matter.” We all turn to look as glass crashes downstairs. We all watch the door cautiously my hands and Sam’s still turning at the rope holding us to our chairs. My ropes break apart right as a gun shot rings downstairs. Sam looks at me and then tackles the witch.

“Go!” He yells at me as he wrestles for the knife. I take off down the hall the witch not far behind me.

“Abi!” The shout comes from behind me and I hurtle through the air and down the stairs where my aching head bitches at me.

“Percy?” Dean steps toward me as I blink to see the witch hit the stairs quickly followed by Sam. Dean points his gun at one then the other, Sam and the witch freezing in place. Dean whips the gun back and forth between the two confused.

“No, no, no. Brother.” Sam points at himself then points at Boyd. “Witch.” The gun keeps flicking between the two.

“Dean.” I call and his eyes fall to me where I point at Boyd. “Glasses.” Dean levels his gun and pulls the trigger the witch collapsing to the ground. I lock eyes with Sam briefly until he nods he’s okay before resting my head on the stair next to me. 

“Percy…” Dean reaches a hand down to me and I contemplate just staying where I am. “You okay?” I reach up and let him pull me shakily to my feet.

“I really hate witches.” I answer simply my head pounding like no one’s business causing me to stumble. Dean supports my arm as Sam joins as at the bottom of the stairs. “Speaking of witches…. Where’s ours?” Dean points over to Rowena with the gun and I reach out and gently remove it from his hand to prevent any accidents. He smiles sheepishly at me but relinquishes the gun. “Rowena…. You good?” I call over as she lifts herself up from the floor. “Grimoire?” I ask Sam as the room spins a little.

“Upstairs in the library.” Was the brisk answer.

“Good.” I turn my head to Dean who is practically clinging to my side. “Go with Rowena. She’ll get you fixed up.” He looks at me confused and I sigh pointing at the redhead walking up the stairs. “Rowena.” Dean releases my arm causing me to stumble into Sam. We both watch the witch and the eldest head upstairs. When they are out of sight I turn and slug Sam in the shoulder.

“What the hell was that for?” He asks rubbing his shoulder comically.

“You know damned well.” I slide down the wall with a groan. “Going after the witches by yourself.” I lean my head back and look at him with a smirk. “It’s such a Winchester thing to do.” Sam laughs at my response and then sits on the stairs by me. “Thank you though.”

“For?” Sam asks me quirking his head to the side.

“Going after the witches.” I sigh and rub my eyes which are blurring. “We were wasting time and Dean didn’t really have much left.”

“It wasn’t all bad.” Sam gestures at me and I roll my eyes then wince at the pain that follows.

“You and Rowena, man.” I hang my head between my knees and close my eyes. “It was nice at first…. Actually felt like he needed me. But that….” I wave a hand towards the library. “That wasn’t my Dean.”

“Your Dean huh?” Sam chuckles at me.

“Shut up.” I laugh under my breath. “I’d rather have the sarcastic, pain in the ass, womanizer that is Dean; than the needy shell of himself that he’d become.”

“You ever gonna tell him?” Sam glances upstairs.

“Tell him what?” I ask rolling my head to look at him and earning a knowing look from the younger Winchester. “Oh that….. yeah….. no.” I shake my head and then look at my hands. “I love him. Probably always will. Saying it won’t change anything though.” I shrug my shoulders. “So I’ll take the moments I can get, and drink away the rest of them.” A flash of purple comes from upstairs and Sam pushes off the stairs to help me up.

“That sounds healthy.” He muses with a smirk.

“It runs in the family.” I wink as the two appear at the top of the stairs.

“Is it done?” Sam asks worriedly not able to read either’s face.

“Who’s this hippie?” Dean asks Rowena jerking a thumb at his brother. Sam and I look at each other distraught. It didn’t work….. maybe we were too late or….. Dean’s laugh cuts off my thoughts. “Look at their faces. Oh!” He sighs happily leaning on the banister. “Kind of like the time when I ate all of Sam’s Halloween candy. Remember that?”

“You are an ass!” I whip my head around pointing at him.

“Yeah dude. Not funny.” Sam chuckles and claps me on the shoulder. My glare fades into a soft smile after a moment.

“Let’s go home.” I turn towards the door and stumble due to my knees giving out slightly. Dean is by my side in a second stabilizing me. “I’m good.” I say after a second of the room spinning.

“I’m sure you are Princess. Still helping you to the car.” Dean wraps and arm around my waist to hold me up and leads me outside.

~*~

“I can’t believe you called Rowena.” Dean complains to Sam as we walk Rowena to her cab.

“I can’t believe you rode Larry.” Sam fire back.

“I can’t believe you forgot the members of Bon Jovi.” I smirk at the boys standing next to them.

“I was awesome on that bull.” Dean replies pointing at Sam. “And I did not forget…. I was testing you.” Sam and I chuckle as Dean strides over to where Rowena is getting in the car.

“Still say it’s a sign of an upcoming Apocalypse.” I turn to look at Sam. “Good thing we are experts at those.”

“Doesn’t bother you he doesn’t remember anything that happened the past few days?” Sam asks me, watching his brother chat with the red headed witch.

“It’s all about the moments Sammy. He doesn’t have to remember them for them to count.” I shrug with a small smile. “I remember them and that’s enough.” I pat his arm and join Dean and Rowena.

“He’s a lucky one.” Sam mutters looking at me and his brother before shaking his head and standing beside us.

“Now, should you experience any odd memories from when you were hexed, conversations, you let me know?” Rowena is saying when I walk up.

“It’s blank, mostly. Really.” Dean assures her. She quirks an eyebrow but climbs into the car.

“Oh, just a second.” Sam jogs up to the cab and leans in the window. I turn to Dean and smile.

“You are thinking about the bull aren’t you?” He laughs at my question and shakes his head, his face telling a different story. “Want to see if you are still as good now?”

“No of course not.” I quirk my brow at him. “Yeah I guess I do.” I laugh at his response and pat his arm as Rowena’s cab drives off.

Sam walks over and passes the grimoire to me. “She tried to take it huh?” I flip through a few pages with a sigh as he nods.

“How you holding up after the spell?” Sam asks his brother.

“That thing kicked my ass.” Dean opens the Impala door for me.

“You know I gotta be honest. I was actually, uh, a little jealous at first.” Sam walks around to the other side of the vehicle.

“Of what?” Dean chuckles as I slide into the front seat. “The curse that nearly killed me?”

“No, just, you know…. Some of the things we’ve done, we’ve had this weight for…. Forever.” Sam leans on the roof of the car. “And seeing it gone, uh, you looked happy.” Sam bends over to look at me in the front seat with a smirk. I stick my tongue out at him as Dean mimics his brothers pose.

“Well, look, was it nice to drop our baggage?” Dean mulls it over for a moment with a shrug. “Yeah, maybe. Hell, probably. But it wasn’t just the crap that got lost. I mean, it was everything. It was us,” He gestures across me to Sam, “ it was what we do, you know? All of it. It was this.” He points at himself then me then Sam. “So….that’s what being happy looks like? I think I’ll pass.” Dean twiddles the car keys in his fingers and Sam points at him.

“It’s the, uh, the shiny one that’s…..” Sam indicates the key and I giggle in the front seat.

“Get in the car.” Dean slides in next to me patting my knee.

“Think we can stop on the way home?” I ask as Dean pulls out of the parking lot. Dean looks at me for clarification. “I never did get my burger.” I answer simply. The boys both laugh as we pull out onto the highway.


End file.
